


Adrift Mind

by Gealis



Category: One Piece
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, I Tried, My First Fanfic, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reincarnation, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 66,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23925151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gealis/pseuds/Gealis
Summary: People that get reincarnated in fictional worlds usually end up being near the main characters or somewhere inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Usually, they have to struggle to get what they want, but not for me. In my case, my family and neighbor are what’s wrong in this world but they are too self-absorbed to understand it or busy enforcing it. I'm one of the lucky few that live up in the sky and can buy out an entire city with my own allowance.Can I help change the world from the lion's den?
Comments: 319
Kudos: 752
Collections: A Collection of Beloved Inserts, Amazing OFC fanfiction, Reincarnation and Transmigration





	1. Blissful Ignorance

**Author's Note:**

> **  
> WARNINGS: If you aren't caught up with the series or at least the REVERIE ARC there'll be SPOILERS.  
>  On another note, there are some mentions of abuse. Nothing specific, no more than a few lines, but still be warned.**   
> 

The "first" thing I remember was the squeezing. It was squishing me so strongly that it felt like it was going to break all my bones.

Then I was cold and wet, which is never a good combination. There were also people talking, but I couldn't control my body nor understand them. Desperate and scared I began to cry. I felt a blanket wrap around me and the warmth of someone holding me close to them. I wanted to ask who were they and where was I, but I couldn't form words. Meanwhile, I became more and more tired. Then I fell asleep.

* * *

For a long (or short) while I didn't have a grasp of how much time passed: I was awake what it felt like only a few hours a day. Moreover, I could see only blurred figures and I couldn't understand the language they spoke. My sole form of communication was screaming my lungs off, so when I needed something I wailed.

When I wasn't trying to shatter all the glasses in a mile radius with my crying (and I wasn't asleep) I entertained myself by replaying all the stories I read, all the shows and movies I saw. After a while, I was so bored that I started reviewing math theories and science principles I remember only to past time. I even started to train my mind to lucid dream and create a memory palace, things I always found fascinating and wanted to do, but I was too lazy and didn't have enough motivation to.

My new condition didn't feel real: it was like being in a long dream, one which you couldn't wake up, but steadily I realized it wasn't a dream, that I have been reborn in a new body.

I didn't remember how I died. One day I simply went to sleep and the next thing I knew I was here.

For a long time, I grieved for my parents, who always urged me to be more social and active. I grieved for my little brother, that I would not see be happy. I grieved for the few friends I had, even if they were few and not so close. I grieved for my old life, the opportunities I missed and those I couldn't take. I grieved for myself, I was lost in a scary new world.

Another thing that made me stay up at night was the thought of having hijacked an infant body, of depriving a family of their rightful daughter. It wasn't the best period of my life (both of them), but things did get better.

* * *

Time passed and I was more awake if not in control of my body. I could sit upright without falling, but most important I was finally able to see. Even when I was grieving (not that I stopped missing the Before, but now I could somewhat move on) I realized that there were too many different voices talking to me for being reincarnated in a simple family. Either my family was very big, like we-don't-use-condoms-but-we-still-do-it-everyday big, or we were rich enough to afford a staff to manage the house.

I had two nannies for myself. And a guard. The nannies were always with me and tended to my every need (I wanted to die every time they changed or fed me). They even slept in my room. The guard was just... there. If he didn't follow us when we moved through the palace I could have sworn he was just an empty armor.

Yes, I called my house a palace, because only a palace is so richly decorated and has this many rooms. It also has a theme and that theme is expensive. On the outside, the house was pure white, but every room I was carried to had to have gold in it; be it in the frames of the windows, in the edges of the furniture, on the walls or the doors. Sapphires were in the knobs of the blue drawing-room. The windows in my nursery had yellow topaz nestled between the stained glass. Rubies and diamonds adorned the ceiling of the ballroom. There was a crystal chandelier in the foyer looking at the maze garden in the west part of the house as big as a Christmas tree. I knew my home wasn't a real palace only because there was a very big one, with multiple floors and towers, dwarfing our humble abode even from a distance.

Still, I felt like I was living in Versailles. I certainly dress as if I lived there: every day I wore a new dress with lots of frills, ribbons, ruffles and such. The clothes here were weird. They were like kimono-spacesuit hybrids. Not only were they ugly, but they were also impractical: I had little control over my limbs and the multiple layers didn't help, besides most of the dresses were too much.

A part of me was awed by all the sparkles, the other was terrified of breaking something. A few-months-old child doesn't need that luxury, but clearly, nobody told my parents.

And they were…

Well, eccentric was a polite way to describe them. They didn't acknowledge the maids, butlers or guards that were always in the room with us if not to bark orders at them. They also didn't scold me if I threw something purposely on the floor, but expected the help to get it to me quickly. Guess that's what happens when you give expensive things to slobbering toddlers.

Apparently, I was also reborn in an anime-sque world, because my dad had purple hair and, since mine was lavender, I'm pretty sure his were natural. Thank God it was purple. I couldn't bear it if they were pink, every time I would have looked in a mirror I would have thought of Princess Bubblegum.

On the flip side, my mom was a normal color, as my twin older brothers (blond), but I inherited her pretty, baby blue eyes. Not that it really mattered what hair color the member of my family had: the hairstyles could have been mistaken for the ones in the film How The Grinch Stole Christmas. They were hideous and I fought, screamed and flayed when they tried to put mine up. After a while, the nannies gave up the hair, but not the thrice-damned clothes.

As they say: you win some you lose some.

I also learned my new name. Finally. It was Camilla Felicia Patricia Ambrosia Regulus. I know, long name, but considering I was reborn in what seemed to be royalty it was practically a given. I was just thankful that I was still a girl and didn't need to change gender. My family seemed to prefer my second name so I was called Felicia or simply Feli. Not by the staff of the castle tho. I was superior to them so I was called something Felicia (when they talked, usually they simply bowed and scurried away).

I was still working on the language, but I thought I made good progress (I hoped). Oh well, it probably meant something like “lady” or “princess”.

* * *

I spent the next months (re)gaining control of my limbs and learning the language. I could now waddle and I understood almost everything they said to me. I also upgraded to semi-solid food, which was a very good thing in my opinion, but at the same time, I was teething.

I was still practicing lucid dreaming and creating my mind palace. I thought I had a good grasp on both of them: I was able to control my dreams almost half of the nights and my mind palace was now a small room. It kind of resembled my bedroom of Before, but without the bed, since there was no room for it.

Most importantly I could reply. It was a Big Thing, both for me and for my family. I was ecstatic to finally be able to properly communicate. They simply loved me so much that every milestone I reached was something to be proud of. My parents were so happy that I called them Mama and Dada, that they cried and gave me a whole independent building in the northern garden. My brothers, Caspius and Leontide, spent the next few hours after that getting me to say their names.

I was spoiled rotten, and if I didn't remember the Before I'm sure I would have turned out to be a heartless spoiled brat.

Considering that whipping, slapping and kicking the maids and butlers was not only okay but also encouraged by my parents it would have been bad. I couldn't stand it when Mom or Dad did it. Worse was when Cas or Leo were doing it. They were children, barely six years old and beating black and blue someone that could have been our father.

The worst thing was that my nannies expected to be abused by me. I could see it, the fear and acceptance in their eyes, waiting for me to lash out on them when I was frustrated.

It made me want to cry. I wanted to tell them that they didn't have to fear me, that they were safe with me, but I knew that they wouldn't believe me. So I tried to separate them from my family: when I was alone I didn't let them leave me, I sent them away when I was with my parents, I ordered them to fetch me things that were on the other side of the castle when I was with my siblings, I played with them in my house in the garden instead of doing it in the main building, still trying to recreate the stories of Before. It wasn't the perfect solution, but I was just a toddler, the baby of the house. I promised myself that when I grew up I would do something to change things.

This is how I spent the first years in my new life, blatantly ignoring the sign of the gravity of the situation.

* * *

“Feli, Feli, Feli guess what, guess what,” said Cas skipping to me and pecking my cheek.

“Dunno. What” I answered. It was a sunny afternoon and I was playing on the terrace on the third floor.

“Next week is your birthday,” said Leo calmly walking in with a gentle smile. Cas was the energetic one and the oldest of the two.

The first boy pouted and gave the stinky eye to the other, but swiftly resumed: “Mom and Dad are organizing a birthday party for you.”

“Oh,” I said intelligently. It has been five years since I was reborn. My heart ached at the thought of my life in the Before, but less than when I first came here.

“That's it? Oh?” said disappointedly Cas, plopping down next to me on the floor.

“Isn't it the same as last year?” I asked.

“No, this is going to be a big event and everyone in the city will be invited. It's going to be next Thursday” chimed in Leo, sitting on a couch near to us and pushing away a toy that was thrown on it.

“There are gonna be presents and cakes and other children to play with and the ballroom will be all decorated and...” rambled the eldest, green eyes twinkling and imagining the party.

“Other children?” I asked, looking at Leo (he was always willing to explain things). Since I came into this world I haven't left the castle. Yet. I was itching to see the outside and a few hours in the gardens didn't count.

“Yes, it is a good occasion to introduce you to society” answered Leo. “Do you already know what you want as presents?”

“Not really.” I mumbled, then I ordered my nannies without even looking at them “Jenna go to the garden house and make a list of toys I already have. Clara, bring snacks. Lots of them.”

They bowed, chains clicking on their collar, and left.

“You could ask for pets, you don't have any of your own” suggested Cas. “Dad said that you are smart and old enough to keep one.”

I ignored the second part while my insides twisted. _Pets_ , even my thoughts sounded disgusted. _As in enslaved people. No, thank you, brother._

“I already have Jenna and Clara” I weakly protested, referring to the nannies.

“They are mom and dad's, not yours,” said Cas.

“They still follow my orders and they don't need training” I explained while hating myself for the words I said. Then I tried to change the topic “Did you already finish your studies today?”

Leo was about to answer when Cas cut in “Yeah, it was sooo boring, the teacher had us answer a million questions and...”

* * *

“Sweetheart, are you sure you don't want anything else as a present?” asked my mother the day before the party. We were in the ballroom, the one with rubies and diamonds on the ceiling. Mom was making sure that the flowers matched the furnishings. Theoretically, I was there to help her, but she was doing all the job by herself and I simply followed behind her like a good little duckling. “I know that you are humble, but it's your birthday: you can ask for anything.”

“I know, mom, but I really just want a puppy” I assured her then asked, “how many people will come to the party?”

“Our community is small but friendly. The other families are really looking forward to meeting you, so they'll all be here” she said while examining the position of a vase on a buffet table. “There will also be other children. I'm sure you will make a lot of friends quickly. Maybe you'll find a special one.” she teased, smiling at me.

“Mommy, I'm five. I don't want a special friend” I whined. _Besides, it would be pedophilia_ , I thought. _Is it really pedophilia if both parties are physically underage? Ugh, I don't need this kind of thought._

“I'm sure in a couple of years you'll change tune” she giggled “Well, we are pretty much done here. Now go, run along, your father wanted to see you.”

I hugged her goodbye and trotted away to search for my dad. I found him reading in the small library by the windowsill, his feet on a man's back. Making grabby hands and running at him while ignoring the kneeling man, I shouted “Daddy!”

“Ah, here you are, Feli dear. Come, tell me how are the preparations for your party” he greeted me, lowering his feet and picking me up.

He put me on his lap and I rambled on how mom had decorated the ballroom, which cake was on which table, which color the flowers were and so on for a bit. “Mom said you wanted to see me" I finished.

”Yes, dear. You see, there is this little fun tradition for when one is introduced to the public“ he said, kissing my forehead. ”It's like a treasure hunt: during the ball, you have to find the paterfamilias of every family attending and ask them to give you a token. If you manage to collect all tokens before the last ball, then all the families will come together to grant you one wish.“

”I don't have any particular wish, but it sounds fun, “ I said. _It's a good way to let a child get to know everyone without them being bored or throwing a tantrum_. ”Do I have to have a wish ready or can I ask something later?“

”There is no expiration date for the wish, but you have to wear the tokens on the last ball. Which reminds me " he snapped his finger and was handed a box. I opened it and found a necklace with eighteen charms. They were all different: one had a tree and a bird in it, another had a shark, another one had the sun and a mountain range.

“Tomorrow we will hand the charms to the various head of the households when they arrive. You will be in your rooms until we call for you. I'm confident that you'll have collected them all by the third hour.”

“I won't let you down, dad,” I said with confidence.

“I know you won't, Feli. Now, who wants an afternoon snack?”

* * *

Today was the day. I was woken up a little after sunrise and was immediately rushed to a quick breakfast. Then Clara bathed me, massaging essential oil on my skin and hair. I heard Jenna in my room with other maids shuffling and moving things around under the orders of my mother. At that moment I realized it was going to be a long process and I made peace with myself. I spent the whole day being pushed, plucked, pulled and painted on. Does a five-year-old need a face mask? It doesn't matter, under the watchful eye of my mother, no step was missed. I didn't even protest for the Cindy Lou updo.

Finally, my mom left saying “you are beautiful, sweetie. We'll send Klaus to fetch you.”

I was brought in front of a mirror (it was difficult enough to make those few steps, going downstairs would be delightful). I was...

Well...

It was particular. An acquired taste.

 _Oh God, it's awful._ I tried to find something good. I really did. The dress wasn't all that bad, but it clashed with my colors. The upper part was white with pink dots while the lower part was solid pastel yellow. I had lavender hair and blue eyes. It just didn't work.

 _Are those bells?_ I thought horrified looking at my hair. I shook my head.

They jingled.

_Oh God, they are._

I contemplated hiding in the walk-in closet. I thought of changing something to make it better, but that would mean changing everything.

_They are going to laugh at me. I'm going to be the laughing stock at my own birthday party._

I couldn't escape: my mom would be furious, my dad disappointed and Cas and Leo would have blackmail material forever. I wanted to cry.

“Felicia _Gū_ , they are waiting for you,” Klaus called from the door. I resigned myself and started slowly walking to the ballroom. I did not drag my feet, thank you very much.

Klaus went ahead to announce me. I stopped before the double door to compose myself. _Alright, Felicia, yes you are ridiculous, but you are still going to walk in there with confidence. It's not the end of the world so put your big girl pants on and do it._

I nodded to the two butlers, they opened the doors and I walked in. The room was packed and the orchestra was already playing but stopped when I entered. Everyone was staring at me, while I kept my eyes on my father. He was at the bottom of the stairs and I slowly joined him, partly for the dress and partly for the embarrassment (which was also caused by the dress).

Dad gave me the look every parent gives their children that said: “well, what do you say when people do something for you?” I staggered a bit then raised my head. With immense relief, I discovered that everybody was dressed similarly to me. Maybe it's the fashion here that's atrocious.

“Thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday. I bid you all a wonderful evening,” I said, ending with a smile.

The music resumed. My father bent down and whispered in my ear “they have their charm on their belt. Make sure you know who you are talking to, remember your manners and good luck, my dear.”

I started wandering through the room. Make sure you know who you are talking to? Does it mean Daddy wants me to know their name before I talk to them?

I ended near one of the buffet table and took a slice of cake. I contemplated what to do while eating. _I could talk to the other children and ask them the name of their parents._

I looked around to find the nearest kid, but the only one in the vicinity was a snotty pug-faced brat throwing a temper tantrum over the color of a cupcake.

_Nope. Uh uh. Ain't gonna go there._

_Maybe I should find Leo. I'm sure he'll be happy to help._

I searched for a bit 'till I found him. He was talking to another boy. I waited for them to end the conversation, but Leo noticed me. “Oh, here comes the star of the party. Samael, this is Felicia, my sister.”

“Nice to meet you. I'm Camilla Felicia Patricia Ambrosia Regulus. Thank you for coming to my birthday party” I greeted.

“Hello there, I'm Samael Alfred Darius Goshawk. Leon didn't tell me you were so cute” he responded.

I smiled while my brother scowled. Samael was about to continue talking, but Leo cut in “did you need something, Feli?”

“Aw, can't I talk to Feli?” teased Samael.

“Shut up.”

“Dad wants me to know the names of the heads before I talk to them. Please, can you help me?” I asked, batting my eyelashes.

“Father probably wants you to make friends, so I really...” tried to reason my brother.

“My dad's name is Fredrick. He has black hair, curled mustache, and a goatee. You can't miss him,” chimed Samael in.

“Thanks, Samael, I have to go. See you later, Leo,” I said smiling all perked up, already turning away.

“Your sister is so cute. Ow, ow stop hitting me!”

* * *

I spent the next hour and a half introducing myself to people. I collected almost all the charms, I only needed the last one. But now I was distracted. The last head seemed familiar, I felt like I saw him somewhere, but couldn't remember where.

His name was Roswald. He wore sunglasses and had dirty blond hair and beard while his mustache was black. Apparently, he was the father of Snotty The Whiny Brat.

 _How can he be familiar when I have never left the house?_ I thought, but still, that feeling wouldn't go away _. Maybe he visited my parents one time and I saw him passing? No, I would have remembered if I saw someone new in the house._

Determined to win the game, I pushed aside the weird sentiment and continued hunting. Finally, I found who I was searching for. He was an overweight man with an overbite. He was blond, but the top of the head was bald.

“Good evening, Gungheimr Sei, thank you for coming to my birthday party. I'm Camilla Felicia Patricia Ambrosia Regulus. I was wondering if you have something for me?” I said smiling, already feeling like I won.

But what he said froze my smile. All the clues and hints I've been steadily ignoring for the past years came at the forefront and made my mind go blank.

“Hello, dear, nice to meet you. I am Gungheimr, head of the Donquixote family. And yes, I do have a charm for you,” he said while giving it to me.


	2. Fear and Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNINGS: Swearing.**  
>   
>  Apparently I'm as impatient to post a chapter as I am reading a new one. The only reason this didn't come out an hour after the previous one is because I promised myself I'll finish writing the one I started first. Enjoy!

It hit me with the force of a freight train. _I'm the biggest idiot ever. How the hell have I been living in One Piece for the past five years without realizing it? I understand being thick, but really, how dense am I? The clothes, slaves, and attitude didn't clue me in?_ I internally screamed. _Oh my God, Roswald and Snotty. I was talking to well recognizable characters and I didn't get it._

I stumbled to a chair still looking at the tiny charm in my hand. A sunflower over a coliseum. _Well, at least now I have a name for Snotty. Does this charm represent Dressrosa? Do they all represent their former kingdoms?_

I was numb. My thoughts jumbled and jumping from place to place. _Hold on, Charlos is a kid. Does it mean that I'll be in the plot? Oh shit, I'm going to be in the plot. I can't be in the plot, I'll die the moment I step a toe out of the city. Fuck. The city. I'm in Mary Geoise. Where the Gorōsei are. Where Im is. I'm dead. Wait, no, I live here and only the Tenryūbito live here._

I rested my face on my hands, wanting to scream but knowing I couldn't. _Holy crap, I'm a Tenryūbito. They were calling me Saint. Shit, I'm the bad guy. Goddamnit now is not the time for Billie. Get a grip Felicia, you are in the den of the lion._

I was panicking, hyperventilating and imagining the thousands of ways I could die. _It's not like it's impossible. Look at what happened to Doffy's family. People down there hate my guts. The minute they find out who I am and I'm without protection, I'm dead. And they aren't going to make it quick._

“...li. Feli. FELICIA!” shouted a voice. I jerked up and found Cas looking perplexed at me. I must have looked terrified because he went from perplexed to worried in an instant.

“Hey, what is it? Why do you look so scared? Did someone say something bad to you? I'll shoot them, just tell me who they are. Your Cas is gonna take care of it,” he said, kneeling before me and pushing wayward strands of hair behind my ear.

“N-no, th-that's... no-t i... it. I-I'm fi... fine.” I lied.

I was not fine. I was the furthest thing from fine. But it’s not like I could just say, 'Oh, nothing much. I just realized I'm living in a fictional world where everyone and their mother loathes me with the intensity of a thousand suns. A world which I know the future of and I'm scared shitless because I'm the villain. Anyway, did you like the cake?'

I tried to speak, but I only hiccuped. Tears threatened to spill. I was this close to crying.

Cas must have realized it because he quickly picked me up and reassured me. “It's alright, Feli, it's alright. Now we are gonna find mommy and she'll know what to do.”

I'm positive we looked ridiculous: he was an eleven years old child who hadn't had his growth spurt yet with a ball of silk and fabric clinging to him for dear life.

“What happened? Why is she crying?” asked our mother when she saw us. She took me from Cas and I tucked my head in the hollow of her neck, still shaking and terrified.

“I don't know, I found her like this sitting on a chair,” explained my brother.

“Sweetheart, it's okay. Mommy is here,” she said while gently patting my hair and rocking me.

“I.. I wa-nt to... to l-lea.. leave.” I was able to stammer.

“Of course. Let me get daddy and we'll go,” she assured me. She looked for my father, who was talking to other people. When he noticed mom's distressed stare, he hurried to us asking what happened.

“We don't know, but she clearly is unable to continue. I'm taking her to bed,” stated my mom.

“Yes, naturally, honey. I'll handle it here,” agreed my father. I heard the start of his apology and explanation, but I wasn't really paying attention and we were rapidly leaving.

  
  


Cas was still following us but was told to go in his room when we reached my bedroom. My mother gave me to the nannies to prepare for bed, then she left to do the same. When she came back she slid in bed with me. I crawled to her and clutched her shirt, still lost in my thoughts.

_Why me? What did I do to get to be reborn here? I wasn't special in any way, shape or form. I didn't have a dream or ambition. I was just... living. Wake up, work, eat, sleep. Rinse and repeat._

_Can't I just pretend I never realized anything? But I always thought of trying to change my family and abolish slavery. Can I do anything? But how? I presumed that if I made friends with powerful people or became powerful myself I could push for a shift, but would the Gorōsei or Im let me? I literally live in their backyard, it won't take much to kill me if they don't like me._

_If this world doesn't do it first. Oh God, why did I have to be reincarnated in a place with Devil fruits, fishes bigger than cruise ships and where the laws of physics are more like guidelines than rules? What kind of bullshit is this? I didn't sign up to be the main character of a self-insert fanfic._

_That's it, I'm gonna die a gruesome death before reaching my twenties. I just know it. I will probably go somewhere or find out something I shouldn't and the World Government will let a Sea King eat me. They will all fake being sad and tell my family that it was an unfortunate accident. The World Government will mourn me for two hour tops and then return to their plans on world domination._

_I can't believe I used the term ‘world domination’ seriously. What has my life become?_

I was panicking. Reincarnation was already weird, but reincarnation in a fictional universe? It felt impossible, like something you don’t have to worry about in real life.

To be fair, the first thing you do after being reborn (and isn't that a strange turn of phrase) isn't wondering into which fiction you are reborn. It's accepting that you're _in fact_ reborn, that you won't see your old family again and getting to know your new one.

_Fuck, my family. I mean, I always knew they weren't the most pious or merciful ones, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. I feel like I just woke up and found out my loving dad is Hitler’s best friend. What should I do? Should I just bury my head in the sand? Even if I do, it was heavily implied that Luffy would change things. Besides, there's also Dragon. And if Fishman Island is coming to the surface then Mary Geoise is going to be destroyed, so I really shouldn't stay here but should I help them? Do I want to? If so, how?_

Mom tried to lull me to sleep, but these thoughts wouldn't leave me. After some time we were joined by my father. They spent the whole night with me, trying to console me and make me sleep. It didn't work. I was too wound up, too preoccupied to close my eyes.

I was conflicted. I knew the right thing to do was to find Dragon, give him all the information I had and convince him I was telling the truth.

But part of me didn't want to. I loved my new family. Cas was full of energy and enthusiasm. It was always fun to be around him. Leo was gentle and helpful and sweet and oh so smart. Mom was always smiling, teasing and cracking jokes, always trying to lift the mood. Dad was the best. He was always giving us hugs and kisses, always wanted to know if we were okay, always there to listen. Perhaps they had a screwed moral compass, but in the five years I spent as their daughter and sister I was loved. And it felt horrible thinking such things.

My parents were trying to soothe me and I was contemplating to betray them, for christ's sake. What kind of daughter does that? I just accepted the fact that they were my family, that I didn't steal their child's place and now this? Was it some sort of twisted joke? Because I wasn't laughing.

I spent the whole night brooding without coming to a solution.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The next day I was catatonic. My brothers showed up in front of my bedroom door right from early morning. A testament on how much they loved me considering that Leo usually didn't wake up before lunch. They stayed with me the whole day, trying to cheer me up, to make me eat or talk. The only time they left me was to go to the bathroom and when the doctor my parents called visited me. (He didn't find anything wrong with me, obviously. I wasn't sick.)

I knew that I was making them worry, but I didn't know what to do. I tried to retreat into my memory palace, focus on other things and calm myself, but I was still plagued with fears.

That night I got no restful sleep. I continued to turn in my bed and was tormented by nightmares. Since I started training myself to lucid dream I didn't have nightmares anymore. Nowadays it was more a routine than training, as was tending to my memory palace, but it helped to keep my memories of Before. Still, it was weird having bad dreams again, I almost forgot how it felt. They all centred on the many ways I could die, how they would torture me if they found out the truth, how disappointed my family was when they found out my intentions and how much they would hate me.

Things were at a stalemate. Every day was almost a repeat of the first one, without the doctor but with an increasingly concerned family. Every night I couldn't sleep and I was more and more tired come morning. I wasn't eating and it was slowly starting to show.

My brothers didn't know what to do. My parents didn't know what to do. On the fourth night after the party, I heard my mom cry murmuring that they were going to make things right, thinking that I was asleep.

My mother, the always cheerful one, was crying and that hurt more than everything else.

The next day my brothers and I were in one of the drawing-room when Cas exploded: “Feli talk to us. I order you to speak! Do you hear me?! I order you!”

“Stop it, Cas. That's not how it works.”

“No, Leon! I demand her to talk. I'm the eldest, I'm the future head of the household! I will be obeyed or... or you are not my sister anymore! You hear me?! If you don't speak to me right now, you won't be my sister!” he shouted pointing at me.

I opened my mouth but quickly closed it. I wanted to talk. I wanted to speak, but words failed me. I was paralyzed with fears and doubts. After a few minutes passed, Cas stood up from the couch across me silently and run away, slamming the door behind him. I saw his eyes were brimming with tears.

Leo sighed and also stood up, dusting his trousers. I looked at him, scared that he agreed with Cas.

“Don't worry, you are still my sister, but maybe some time alone will do you good. I'm going to find Cas.” He reassured me. With a soft smile, Leo also left, gently closing the door.

I was alone for the first time since my birthday. I sat there on the blue couch looking at the still full cup of tea, now cold. The only sound was the ticking of the clock, but inside me, a storm was raging. How dare I let my mom cry. How dare I make my big brother cry. How dare I worry them all. I was furious. With the future. With the situation. Mostly with myself.

_What exactly am I afraid of? Dying? Newsflash, I already did. Been there, done that. The Gorōsei? There are Dragon and Luffy for them. People asking questions? I'm a Tenryūbito, I don't owe people shit, especially not an explanation. Being weak? There's a thing called training. For Pete's sake, there's Haki here, there're Devil fruits here. I could be more powerful than I ever imagined instead I'm doing what? Sulking and whining like a little bitch. Well, fuck whoever put me here. I don't know what you want and I don't care. I'm gonna do whatever I want. I'm gonna change shit and twist shit as I damn well please. Fuck consequences._

“AAAHH!” I shouted, expelling all my worries. Then I stood up and left the room, I was a little lightheaded from not eating but pushed it aside. _That felt good. Now, where could Leo and Cas be? I have to apologize._

I didn't have to search long, because they all heard my scream and came running.

“Feli, sweetheart, are you okay? What was that? Were you screaming?” asked mom.

“I'm sorry I worried you. I was scared and I had to think, but now I'm better.” I excused myself lamely. _Of course, I realize only now that I don't have a justification for my behavior. Way to go, Felicia. We can always count on you to bring the IQ level of the room down._

“We are glad to hear that, dear, but are you sure? Do you want to talk about it? You know you can tell us anything, right? And what scared you so?” my father questioned, still concerned.

_Time to lie._

“There were so many people and they were all looking at me and I had to talk to all of them because of the charms,” I mumbled, “ and then I had to leave early and I thought I made a bad impression. But now I'm fine.”

They stared at me for a moment trying to see if I was hiding something. I fidgeted under their gaze but remained silent.

“Alright, sweetie, but next time talk to us. You really worried us.” said mom.

I muttered another sorry looking at my feet.

“Now that everything is worked out do you feel like eating?” asked gently my father.

I simply nodded but stayed put. My parents went ahead. After a while of awkward silence, Leo muttered something about waiting for us in the dining room and left.

Cas wasn't looking at me, but I could see his puffy eyes anyway. I mentally kicked myself.

_Fix. This._

“I'm sorry, Cas, that I worried you. I didn't want to upset you. I wanted to talk to you, but I couldn't. Can you forgive me? Can I still be your sister?” I pleaded.

For a moment he didn't answer. He stood there, arms crossed and averted gaze. I felt tears rising in my eyes, fearing that I was too late.

" Please, please Cas. I'll do anything", my voice cracked.

Then I heard him quietly whisper “You'll give me all your sweets for the next month.”

“Yes, of course. They're yours,” I agreed swiftly.

“You will help me hide from the teachers when I skip class for the next two months.” I simply nodded, desperate for approval.

“And you will never do it again. You will never stop speaking to me again.”

“Yes, I'll talk.”

“Promise me. Promise me you won't do it again,” he demanded.

“I promise. I won't do it again.”

Suddenly I was in his arms. He was squeezing me and I was squeezing him back. We murmured apologies to each other. He was sorry that he said I wasn't his sister and I promised him again that it won't happen a second time. When we finished consoling each other we went to the dining room hand in hand.

That night I snuk in Cas bed. I dreamt of his smile.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


The next day I entered my memory palace. Well, more like a memory apartment. I started building it when I was just a newborn and, from what I remembered reading, you have to pick a place you know like the palm of your hand to really work. What better place than my old apartment? Honestly, at that time it was really only a way to past time. But, still, it worked, so good for me.

My (old) mental apartment was modest, nothing like what I had now. I'm confident to say that my new bedroom is bigger than my old flat.

In my mind, there was a bedroom and a living room connected to the kitchen. The door that Before led to the bathroom now opened in my bedroom in my new life. This room contained all the memories of this life. My old bedroom stored all my memories of my old family. Needless to say, I didn't like to go in there much. The kitchen had all my academic knowledge. Useful stuff but not in this case. The living room was for the fun stuff. It had a Tv, a couch and two bookcases. One of them contained all the memories of the things I read, like books, fanfics, and mangas. The other was for things I saw: films, series, and animes.

_I know that Charlos was in his twenties when he appeared in the series, so I should look at what happened in the thirty years before the start. Now here's the question: do I look up the manga or the anime? I was more familiar with the manga since I dropped the anime around Zou, but what if the fillers are canon? Or, God forbid, the movies? I only saw three of them and I'm pretty sure there were at least a dozen. I could wait 'till I understand where exactly I am in the timeline. I want to help the good guys, but to do so I have to understand where to start. Making myself liked by the Gorōsei would also be a smart move. I could get information from them but it's risky: I would have to act like the perfect Celestial Dragon for it to go well and don't raise suspicions._ _Hopefully, I can change the attitude of my family, find someplace where we aren't hated and hole up there._

_Maybe I could just brush my memory on the major events that occurred before the start of the series and then wing it from there._

So I did just that. And it was the right move because there's a ton to do.

_Homing’s and Roger’s death, Ohara, Oden, the Amber Lead disease, Fisher Tiger, Rosinante, Sabo, Kuina, Donflamingo’s coup, Otohime, Bell-mère, Tom’s execution and Enel’s coup. Well, I'll be busy for a while. I don't know if I can change all of them or if I have the time. Now if only I knew where I am that would be great._

My knee jerk reaction was to gather my things and leave as fast as I could, but that would be suicidal.

My second instinct was going straight to Pangea Castle and charm my way to the Five Elders, but I'd probably be stopped at the front door. Since the Gorōsei lived here there's a good chance that they're also Tenryūbito so my best bet would be becoming the darling of the community and make them invite me in.

_Maybe I could start by fishing for information from dad. I can ask him if I could leave the house. And he'll probably know if there was a Grand Theft Slaves._

So I started looking for my father. He was in his study reading some letters.

“Ah, Feli dear, how are you today? Did you sleep well? No more nightmares, I hope?” he asked with a smile.

“Yes, no more nightmares. I was hoping to ask you something.” I said while circling the desk.

“Of course. What do you need?” he said pushing his chair away from the desk and facing me.

“Well, I wanted to ask you about slaves.” I started but was promptly interrupted.

“Oh, right, I didn't know if I should say anything to you. Considering the last days, I thought waiting a bit was the best. But since you were the one to ask...” he perked up, taking my hand and guiding me out of the room.

“What do you mean?”

“One of your presents, dear. I know you don't like owning pets. Don't lie, everybody can see it. But Saint Grothan gifted you three girls to play with. They are a little older than you, but still in their teens. Don't worry, he assured me that they were already trained. He has them for a few years and can vouch for their behavior. If you don't want them we can send them back or sell them. But I think you’ll like them,” he explained.

We entered a room on the first floor, more shabby than the rest of the house (not that it meant much. It was still posher than anything I had Before). There was a pile of wrapped gifts in one corner, next to it was a cage with a silver bow on it. In the middle of the room, there were three collared girls. They all had sunken eyes and cheeks, bones clearly visible under their skin. They didn't raise their head but tensed when we entered the room.

They all wore a white tunic. The tallest one had green hair and a big head. The girl in the middle was a redhead and was shaking. The little one had black hair.

“This is my daughter and your new owner. Obey her orders and you will live. Fail to do so and you will pay.” he proclaimed. The slaves nodded and raised their heads. While the first two were fearful, the third looked at me with hatred. Even underweight and bruised she still had the most beautiful features I ever saw.

_Great. I now own slaves. I don't want slaves. How did it happen? I just wanted to ask him if slaves ever escaped and here I am. Proud owner of three._

_Oh._

_OH._

_Well, fuck me sideways with a hammer. And fuck you too, whoever is in charge here. This is bullshit._

The Gorgon Sisters were now my new slaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you all for reading!
> 
> I'm really happy that so many people took the time to read my story! I was refreshing the page every 10 minutes to see if the hit counts grew.
> 
> So many of you liked and read my story that now I kinda have performance anxiety: I'm a little bit afraid that you won't like the rest of the story.
> 
> A special thank you to those that commented, you honestly made my day. After I read your comments I spent the rest of the day smiling like a lunatic. And I reread them all week.😀
> 
> I would also like to thank the Library of Ohara (https://thelibraryofohara.com/). The only reason I have something that resembles a sequence of events is their Timeline of One Piece.
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: Gaining Trust.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	3. Gaining Trust

Of course, the Boa sisters were my new slaves. Someone up there had a twisted sense of humor. Fortunately, I already had my meltdown. I would have lost it right there and then if I didn't already come to terms with my predicament.

_Wait, hold on, no fortunately. Fortune and Fate are at fault here. Screw you Fate._

I stared at the girls. They stared back. Father was also looking at me to gauge my mood. The guard that was in the room with us was probably starring too. _At least now I know in which point in the timeline I am. Sorta. The question is how much time did they spend as slaves before they escaped with Fisher Tiger and how far along are we? Did they already eat their Devil Fruits? Do I have to force-feed them the nasty things? Does being with me destroy their chance of escaping? Do I have to give them back to Saint Grothan? And if it's the contrary and being here is the right thing? How can I find out which? Oh, God why did I think I could do anything? I panic every time I encounter a character._

The silence stretched. I looked around hoping to find something to focus. I also looked to my dad, but he was simply smirking, happy to let me squirm. Traitor.

_Aaand now there's an awkward silence. Perfect. Come on, say something, Felicia. This is getting unbearable._

“What's your favorite animal?” I blurred.

...Maybe I should have stayed quiet. Or found a hole to bury myself in. _Whyyy am I like this?_

Dad snorted. Marigold and Sandersonia had a deer in headlights expression. Hancock blinked, probably thinking that I was crazy, but still answered, even if hesitantly. “I like snakes.”

I faltered a moment. _Roll with it._

“Oh, I see. I'm more of a dog kinda girl, but snakes are cool.”

The silence returned. More oppressing. I didn't dare speak again.

Finally, my father was satisfied with my squirming and took the rein of the situation. “Right. Well, why don't we let them wait for you in your garden house? I'm sure they can tell you all about their favorite animal later.”

The guard bowed and guided out the sisters.

“Those are your other presents, but your mother wanted to be present when you opened them.” Luckily, Dad changed subject. Then we left the room. I couldn't leave quicker, but only after making my father promise to keep what happened quiet.

* * *

I didn't have the courage to go into the garden house. Partially because I didn't know what to do with the Boa family, partially because I was still embarrassed. _Especially_ because I was still embarrassed. So I spent the rest of the morning playing with Jenna and Clara.

I was just able to forget my foot-in-mouth moment when at the end of lunch mom chirped: “So, I hear that you think snakes are cool.”

The silver spoon fell from my hand and I blushed up to the ears while chocking on the dessert. “DAD! You promised!” I shouted indignant after drinking some water.

My father had the gall to giggle. Leo, still looking half asleep, was shifting his gaze from me to mom like it was a tennis match. Cas simply continued scarfing his dessert down. When that boy was eating nothing could catch his attention if not more food. I would be worried about him going fat, but he had a fast metabolism, lucky one, and the only times he was still were when he was eating or sleeping.

“Oh, sweetie, you will come to realize that there are no secrets between me and your father,” she chuckled. “Anyway, as much as I enjoyed your reaction I didn't bring it up only to make you blush. After lunch why don't we go open your presents?”

I nodded furiously -anything that delayed dealing with Hancock and her sister was a blessing to me- and finished quickly my dessert. I then tried to pry Cas away from his plate. (“I'm eating, Feli!” “It's your fifth serving of tiramisù, you pig. You'll live.”) My parents chuckled and reminded us to go wash our teeth.

It took us more time than necessary because we had to make sure that Leo didn't fall asleep. The fact that he could sleep anywhere in any position was a thing he prided himself with.

Finally, we were back to the room where my presents were. I started unwrapping the pile of gifts. Some were good: books, toys, markers and coloring tools. Some were generic: a box of chocolate that the bottomless hole, aka Caspius, stole, clothes, accessories, soaps, and perfumes. Others were traumatizing: handcuffs, collars, chains and a whip, all customized of course. (“Every good slave owner has their personalized whip,” explained my father. Nodding, mom continued “isn't it pretty? It even has your initials” _What. The. Fuck._ I thought horrified.)

Eventually, my brothers let me open to their gift, a diamond bracelet with our favorite gemstones(blue afghanite for Cas, hiddenite for Leo and garnet for me).

The last present was my parents'. The cage, where the puppy was, had a silver glittery bow on it and was big enough for an adult dog. It was covered by a navy blue blanket, leaving only one side free.

“He's a Darosian shepherd,” explained dad. “His breed is mostly used for companionship, but they can be good watchdogs. They are native of the North Blue and are known to be intelligent, loyal and protective towards their owner. We wanted to give you a friend that could grow up with you. This is why, while he'll mature slowly, he can live up to thirty years.”

_That's a lot for a dog. I thought they didn't go past twenty. But again, this world is weird. Also, do the Germa use them?_

I peered inside and found the bluest eyes looking at me. I fell in love instantly and quickly opened the door to pet him. I reached my hand and the puppy timidly sniffed me. Deeming me trustworthy, the dog came into my arms wagging his tail. I was melting, cooing and giving scritches to the wiggling fluffball. He had pointy ears and nose, was completely black save from the tip of his tail, a spot between his front legs and two dots right over his eyes, that were white. He was still a puppy but he already was half my size. _Oh my Lord, he has eyebrows. How cute is that?_

“Does he have a name?” I asked letting him explore the room. I grabbed from inside the cage his stuffed toy. It was a soft fluffy otter. _Good God, it's adorable. He's adorable. I'm dying._

“Nope,” said my mom.

Now the puppy was in Leo's lap trying to sniff Cas' chocolate. Cas swiftly raised the box while Leo was gently pushing him away. At that sight, a lightbulb lit in my mind. I knew exactly how to name him.

* * *

I spent the rest of the day playing in the garden with Cas and L. ( _Get it? Get it? Because L eats only sweets and he was curious about the chocolate_ ) In the beginning Leo was also with us, but, since he's a sleepy boi, it didn't last long.

We had a quick dinner then we went back to the garden to play. I was too tired to go back to my room in the main house instead L and I fell asleep in the one in my garden house.

It wasn't the first time I slept there. Actually, I preferred it to the main house. It wasn't obscenely big like the principal building. I didn't lose myself in it (I may have been lost in the main house a few more times than I'm comfortable sharing, but not in the last three weeks). It also had my favorite room in all my home: the solarium. I loved that room with its high windows and a glass ceiling. It had an Arabic style with cushions, bean bags, and soft carpets everywhere. Also a lot of plants.

Clara woke me up, bringing my breakfast. I greeted her, took my breakfast and let my nanny bring L outside to do his business. After finishing eating, I went in the bathroom to bathe. When I returned to my room, with only a towel wrapped around me, I found my new slaves. There was also L sniffing the girls and trying to catch their attention. The girls were probably waiting for orders, but I had completely forgotten about them. I looked at them wide-eyed. _I'm an idiot. How could I forget them? Great. Why couldn't they wait to show up until I wore pants?_

“Wait outside,” I ordered, showing more confidence than I really had. The girls bowed and obeyed. While leaving, Hancock almost kicked L accidentally but he noticed her and jumped away with a yelp. I made a mental note to never leave them alone together. I quickly dressed up while debating what to do. _Do I just ignore them? No, I can't anymore. Can't I just go outside Mary Geoise and free them? Wait, no I don't have the key for the collars and if I remember correctly they exploded. Damn it, I have to wait for Tiger. So now what?_ _Do I send them back? But I don't want to, at least with me they'll be relatively safe. Maybe I should just try to gain their trust first and let them decide._

I couldn't stall anymore, so joined the amazons. I ordered everyone but them, and L, to leave. There was silence. _What do I say to them to make them believe me? I don’t want to give away everything, but maybe some half-truth?_

“You three are the Boa family. Boa Hancock, Boa Marigold and Boa Sandersonia. You come from Amazon Lily, an island on the Calm Belt near Paradise where the amazons live.” I said without stopping, pointing my finger at each one of them when I called their name.

Then gathering my courage I continued “I'm different from the other Celestial Dragons. First, because I abhor slavery. Second, because I know certain things about certain people and certain actions they will make. Nobody but you three know this, but I'm willingly telling you because you three are part of this group of people.”

The silence stretched for a bit more than Hancock spoke: “You lie. Everything you said can be discovered talking to our previous slaver. Besides, why would we trust you?”

“I know things about you. Sandersonia and Marigold were fed a Devil Fruit each, both Zoan. You can become snakes. You, Hancock, have a Paramecia that allows you to turn into stone everything you touch.”

“You are wrong,” said Hancock smugly.

“We did eat a Devil Fruit, but we don't know what they were. Hancock wasn't subjected to that,” said shyly Marigold. The raven-haired gave his sister a piercing look, telling her to shut up silently.

_Damn it. This complicates things. Do I have to find hers and make her eat it?_

“Still, Marigold's and Sandersonia's are snake Zoan. I also know things about Amazon Lily that no outsider should know. It's an island with a lush forest, the mountain on it has a dome-like structure made of stone with carved snakeheads and the kanji for Kuja. The buildings have a curved ceiling, like pagodas. There's also a Battle ring.

The only citizens are women, that all wear a bikini, a cape and have a pet snake. No man is allowed on the island. Amazon Lily is an empire and the empress is elected for her beauty and strength.”

No response. _Alright, facts didn't work. Let's try pleading._

“Listen, you don't trust me. You are slaves and I'm your owner. I get it. But believe me, I want to help. I'm different: I don't have slaves beside you and you were a _gift_.” I said that last word like it was venom. “Jenna and Clara are my parents' and I don't abuse them, you can ask them later. But that's not important. What's important is the fact that I know that someday in the future you will escape and return to your home. So the question is: do you want to stay here with me or do you want to go back to your previous owner? I don't want slaves, but I will keep you if you decide so.”

Still no response. I sighed.

“Alright. I'll leave you alone for a bit, so you can talk and decide what to do. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?” I asked finally, but still silence.

“Right, I'll tell someone to bring food. You are all severely malnourished. Please eat even a little, it won't be poisoned or drugged,” I said dejectedly.

Then I left, with L following me. I asked someone to bring them food. I also ordered to feed the girls three times a day, let them bathe and sleep in proper beds. The fact that I had to specify all of this made me sadder and angrier.

To calm down and take away my mind from dark thoughts, I spent the rest of the morning teaching L to come when called and to sit. He got the first, but the second needed a bit more time. After lunch L took a nap so I went to the library. Since I now knew that Hancock lacked her Devil Fruit, I decide to search for it. I didn't remember how it was called so I went to find the book on Devil Fruits.

I still didn’t know how to read (another thing to work on), but luckily Leo was there, sitting on a couch and reading an old looking book. (When I was younger he frequently read to me. It helped me learn the language faster since they were children's books. It was our bonding time.) I waved at him and asked for his help.

Hancock's fruit was the Mero Mero no Mi. It allowed turning into stone anyone that was attracted to the user or touched by them. Currently, there was no known user (so, thankfully, I didn't need to plan a murder), but its location was unknown. _I could ask dad to find it for me. It will take time, but it should be fine. I still need to gain their trust, so I’m in no hurry._

So with my book in hand, I looked for father. He was chatting with mom on a couch on the patio, enjoying a glass of wine. “Dad, I know that my birthday just passed, but can I ask you something?”

“What are you saying? You can ask for anything, dear. Birthday or no birthday.” he said with a smile picking me up and putting me between them.

“I was looking at Devil Fruits and one caught my attention. The Mero Mero no Mi. Can I have it, please?” I asked batting my eyelashes.

“Is it your wish for the tokens?” asked mom.

“What?”

“Don't you remember? During your birthday party you collected all the charms,” she explained.

“But I didn't wear them for the last ball.”

“It's fine. The important thing was that you collected them all, not wear them. Their job was to make sure you introduced yourself to everybody. The last ball was only a time limit to make sure you did it in one night,” continued dad. “So is this your wish?”

I thought about it and then said: “no, it isn't. I want to keep it for something else.”

_If the Fruit was found in the series without me or my wish they can also do without this time around._

“Alright, then I'll send people looking for it. Don't worry, I don't need help,” reassured my father.

* * *

The next day I went to find Hancock, Sandersonia and Marigold. They just finished having a light breakfast. They looked considerably better than the day before, clean, rested and with a full belly.

We were alone. We sat in the drawing-room in my garden house. They were in front of me. L was on the couch with me, his head on my lap. As usual, they weren't speaking, so I asked: “Did you come to a decision?”

“We don't trust you,” spat Hancock immediately out, crossing her arms.

“We would like to stay here. Particular events have convinced us that there's truth in some things you say,” said Marigold.

My perplexed expression must have conveyed my question because Sandersonia gently said: “my tongue became forked yesterday.”

She showed me.

“Oh.”

“Do you know how to turn it back?” asked the redhead.

“Not really,” I answered, tilting my head and still staring at her.

“Some help you are,” stated Hancock, still trying to stare holes in my head. Sandersonia retracted her tongue and lowered her head. The silence returned.

Then I remembered something.

“Oh, I know your names but you don't know mine. My name is Felicia. Nice to meet you.”

Sandersonia and Marigold introduced themselves, while Hancock didn't respond.

_Why do I have the feeling that she is gonna make everything more difficult?_

* * *

The following weeks were spent playing and teaching L and winning the amazons ~~Hancock~~ over. There saw progression on both fronts: L could sit, come and lie down while now Hancock only rolled her eyes when she saw me instead of full-on glaring.

The other two were more friendly than their sister. I didn't know if it was because they genuinely wanted to give me a chance or were simply scared, but I took it. There's no reason to look into a gifted horse’s mouth.

We reached a routine. In the morning I would stay with L, playing and teaching him. After lunch, when he was napping, I would go to the garden house where the girls where. We would play board games, work on their powers and simply try to build trust between us, usually in the solarium. A few hours later my L would join us and monopolize our attention.

So, of course, it didn't last. One day after lunch I went to the garden house but immediately stopped after opening the door.

It was a warzone. Glasses shattered, furniture knocked over, cushions, mattresses and clothes torn apart.

Since the Boa sisters came I ordered everyone but Clara and Jenna to stay away from the garden house, so I knew exactly who did this. But I did not want to get angry. I closed my eyes, inhaled and opened them. My gaze focused on a red cushion on the stairs in front of the entrance. It had the whip on it, like mocking me to take it and use it. I exhaled. _Fuck not getting angry. She's asking for it._

I gently closed the door behind me, picked the whip up and went straight to search for the brat. Every room I passed was destroyed without exceptions. I didn't have the courage to look in what state was my favorite room. I found Sandersonia first, picking up the pages of a torn book. I asked where her sister was, she hesitated for a bit but still told me. Maybe it was because she was still scared but I'd like to think she also thought Hancock was being a bitch.

I found her and Marigold on the balcony of the second floor. The redhead was massaging her temples and glaring at her sister.

“You know, I tried to be understanding with you. Every snide remark, petty gesture or when you snubbed me I told myself that I had to be patient. You are slaves. You've been slaves for two years. But evidently, that wasn't the right approach,” I said calmly, still trying to rein my anger. For Sandersonia and Marigold.

“You want to be difficult. Just because I live in this house, in this city, you decided I was an enemy without letting me prove myself. And I understand it to some extend: as I said, you've been sold into slavery, you've been abused and tortured. At the same time, it's been weeks, _weeks_ , since I started trying to demonstrate that I was trustworthy. Now, tell me, what should I do with you? Because you do understand that _this_ ," I gestured to the house, ”wouldn't fly with any other World Noble, right? I mean, you must be aware of that. You might be a brat but you aren't stupid.“

”Who did you call a brat?“ she protested.

”YOU, Hancock, you are the one I'm calling a brat. Because what is this, but the temper tantrum of a child? What did you want to accomplish leaving me _this_ in plain sight?“ I yelled waving the whip around.

After taking a deep breath, I continued ”Were you trying to convince me to use it? You know that there's nobody in this city, in this world, who would defend you against me if I beat you, right? Heck, every other Celestial Dragon would have beaten you within an inch of your life a long time ago. So what were you trying to do? Anger me? If so, congratulation you succeded. Now what? I won't hurt you. My morals won't let me. So what have we learned today? That Hancock is a petty and blind person that needs a five-year-old child to lecture her.“

After I finished my rant I turned myself. I waited for any of the three to say something, but no one did.

Sighing, I finished: ”The house is inhabitable, you can't stay here. You'll come to the main building, but I can't show favoritism. I need to be considered one of them, I can't be known as the one that likes slaves. Also if I do you'll probably be bullied by the other slaves. You'll live with the others in the basement. I'll try to have you assigned to light work and away from the other family members, but I can't promise anything. Hopefully, mom will be able to repair everything by next week.“

I started walking away but stopped at the door, feeling exhausted and wanting the day to be over.

”Hancock you'll now be followed by a guard anywhere and everywhere until I say otherwise. They won't hurt you but will stop any attempt to a repeat of this. You clearly can't be trusted alone.“

”I don't need a babysitter.“

”Act like a child, be treated like a child.“ I shrugged.

I left the garden house and instructed a maid with my orders.

I dragged myself to my bedroom in the main house, tired and disappointed. L was there. I cuddled with him on the bed until I fell asleep.

_I still have to ask dad if I can leave the house. I totally forgot about it. But not now. Now I'm not in the mood._

_One step forward, two steps back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading!
> 
> Now that I am on the other side of the fence, so to speak, I see that writing is slow. Good God, is it slow. I spend the majority of the time between saying: "come on, hurry up. We don't need a step by step explanation. They'll get it, they're not dumb," and: "Stop! Don't you dare go on without describing the scene with all five senses, writing what happens around and a peek into the POV mind!!!"
> 
> It's exhausting and frustrating. Mostly frustrating.😣
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: New Beginning and New Addition.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	4. New Beginning and New Addition

The next day I went to find my mother to inform her that my garden house was trashed. Since telling her that one of my slaves did it would result in Hancock being punished I lied. I said that I didn’t like how it was and wanted to redecorate. She believed me, of course, and asked me how I would like it. I felt a bit guilty lying but it quickly went away since I spent a good chunk of the day deciding colors, furniture, styles etcetera.

I left after she said that it would take three weeks before my new house was ready.

Now I didn’t know what to do. My parents were taking their afternoon tea together most likely. I didn’t want to interrupt them, it was their alone time. The Gorgon sisters were helping in the kitchens, where a Tenryūbito would never be caught dead. Moreover, I didn’t want to see them, I was still angry. Cas had come earlier and taken L outside to play, but I wasn’t in the mood to join them. I hadn’t seen Leo, but he was probably reading in one of the libraries.

Then I remembered I was still illiterate. _Time to fix it._

I found Leo in the second biggest library. I walked up to him and asked him to teach me. Thus my first class began.

Here’s a fun fact about this place: while there was one sole language spoken, Common, there were two different alphabets for it. Apparently one of them was older and the 'official' one. The other, conceptually different from the first, was initially used as a code in a war to pass information to allies. Time passed, the war ended and the English alphabet, quicker and easier to learn, became common knowledge. Although kanjis were still used today in laws and state documents, English was adopted in everything else: from books to names to wanted posters.

Naturally, there were other languages used, but anyone that wanted to talk to and be understood by anybody spoke Common.

So, when I started my lesson I had an advantage. Sorta.

I knew one alphabet, but this body had never written something. And what happens when a child starts learning the written language? Their words are trembling and lopsided. Just like mine. It was frustrating: I knew how to write but at the same time I didn’t.

Leo, also, didn’t want to teach me the kanjis before I could write legibly. That upset me and he noticed, therefore he promised me to meet me every day before dinner for two hours to tutor me.

I was appeased and, for five days, spent every hour I had to spare practicing my penmanship.

The sixth day we moved on kanji.

* * *

Three weeks flew by. In the second week, my father found out that I wanted to learn so he hired four tutors for me. In the morning I would have two hours for maths and history lessons each, while in the afternoon I had another two hours for science and one for kanji. The weekend was free.

It wasn’t as tiring as it sounded: we started from the basis and maths and science were more like a refreshing of old things than learning new stuff. History was also simple. This thing happened this year in this place. Boring but not difficult.

The complete opposite of kanji lessons. In kanji, I felt like I was crawling. The first day my teacher said he expected me to know approximately 4000 ideograms by the end of my education. At the end of the week, I knew 25.

I wanted to push forward and learn more but my tutor instructed my family not to indulge me.

Then the Sunday of the third week I found myself in my newly remodeled garden house with my three slaves and a guard. We were in one of the drawing-room. After dismissing the guard there was silence. _You'd think I'd be able to avoid the awkward silence by now. Or at least be used to it._

"So. The house is fixed again..." I started, my voice going softer the more I spoke.

"Yes, I see you changed stuff," answered Marigold after a pause.

"I thought it was a good opportunity to renovate," I explained while looking around.

The house had a rococo style before the Hancock Accident, now it was more modern. The rooms still looked expensive with their high ceiling, dark furniture and floor to ceiling windows, but now it wasn't so in-your-face about it.

It was again quiet so I busied myself munching on a biscuit and sipping on the tea left behind by Jenna.

Sandersonia had her cup in her hands staring at it like it had all the answers in the world. Meanwhile, Marigold was silently encouraging his raven-haired sister to talk.

"I still don't like you," finally spoke Hancock, "but I will acknowledge the fact that you could have done worse than giving me a babysitter and putting us on potato peeling duty."

I simply nodded, not sure how to respond.

"And..." spurred Marigold after a bit.

"And I will try to give you a chance," finished Hancock through gritting teeth.

"Oh, good to know. Deal?" I asked thrusting my hand forward.

Now Sandersonia was spurring Hancock, elbowing her side. She huffed and shook my hand.

"Deal."

* * *

We didn't become BFF overnight, of course. There was still that annoying silence between us, but now it was more due to hesitation than hostility. So we took things slowly. During the week I hanged out with my family and taught and played with L, he still looked like a puppy even months after I got him. At the weekends I was with the amazons. On top of that, my lessons became more difficult.

I couldn't rely on my pre-existing knowledge for my studies anymore because the materials were completely new or too difficult to remember after years without practice. ( _What does it mean 'the Cor muscles are situated behind the_ _iris dilator muscle and when stimulated by dopamine, testosterone/estrogen or a combination of the two, cause the pupil to assume a heart shape'? Is this an explanation for the heart eyes?_ )

Basically, this world was insane, the people here were insane and I didn't sign up for this mindfuckery. ( _No, I DO NOT want to know how much can a Devil Fruit user spend submerged in water before all his strength leaves him, he slips into a coma and dies. Why, and how, do we even know it._ )

My brothers were always happy to help me when I needed more tutoring. Surprisingly enough, Cas was the resident math prodigy. Even with my cheating, he completed the math program before me. Not to say that Leo was dumb: he had various interests (literature, history, politics, biology) and excelled in them, but for Cas numbers and logic just clicked. He was a genius, a hyperactive one, but a genius nonetheless.

Thus a few months passed, my parents gave another party for their anniversary, Christmas came and went and now it was January of a new year. I was walking in a hallway, going to my father. I was starting to get anxious, Hancock still didn't have her powers and I didn't know when Fisher Tiger would arrive. _If this continues he'll die before I get the Fruit._

My mind came into a screeching halt. I stopped walking and crouched down putting my hands on my face. _Oh My God, I'm an idiot. I forgot about her. How could I forget Sabo's future waifu? If I save her and change that a good chunk of tragedy can be sparred. But if Tiger doesn’t die will Jimbe still join Luffy? I need to make sure he does. I don’t think he’ll leave the Sun Pirates if Fisher Tiger’s alive. Should I just leave Koala alone? But she’s a kid, do I really have the guts to do nothing? Maybe if I can make Jimbe promise to join the Straw Hats. Not too early, they need to grow before they take on a Yonko and the shark joining them right of the bat wouldn’t help. Even so, how can I get Jimbe to owe me one?_

I rubbed my face and sat on the floor. I wanted to take Koala, thinking she’ll be safer and healthier with me. However, the Jimbe Problem made me hesitate.

_Well, I have time. I won’t go to Fishman Island before Otohime come to Mary Geoise at least, so I don’t have to find a solution immediately._

_Alright, so I’m going to find Koala and I’ll worry about the shark later. I need to find dad._

So I stood up and started running to my father's office while trying to remember everything about her. I stopped before the doors, took a deep breath and entered. My father was reading the World Economy News Paper and I made a mental note to start doing it too.

"Hi, Dad, can I ask you something?" I chirped with a smile.

"Of course, dear, what do you need?" he asked still reading the news.

"I was wondering when my Devil Fruit would arrive."

He finally looked at me with a contrite expression. "I'm sorry, Feli dear, I still haven't found it. The last user died at sea more than sixty years ago, so it's been a bit tricky, but my men are on the right track. I'm certain you'll have it soon. In the meantime can I give you something else? As an apology for making you wait?"

_Yes, now's the time._

"Well, maybe you can give me a new slave."

"You want a slave? Did something happen to the ones you already have? Do you need me to punish them?" asked confused my father.

"No, I just want a new one."

"Oh, I see. Well, in a couple of weeks I'll go to the auction house in Sabaody, why don't you come with me?" proposed cheerfully dad.

_I don't know if she's still free tho._ I knew some slaves were purchased by the Five Elder to take care of the city.

"But I want someone now! Couldn't I just look if there're some unclaimed slaves maybe managing the city or something?"

"Yes, but didn't you say you want someone new?"

"I want someone new for me, but I have a few requirements. It needs to be a girl no more than a couple of years older or younger than me. She has to have light brown hair and black eyes."

"Alright, what else?"

_Think, Felicia. What else can you say about Koala?_

"Hardworking. And she mustn't cry."

"Alright, I'll look if there is a slave that meets those conditions, but if I don't find anyone you’ll accompany me?"

I nodded, hoping that that was enough to find Koala.

* * *

"So, now you want a child slave," said doubtfully Hancock, arms crossed. It was a few days after I talked to my father and we were in the solarium (it was the only room that didn't change from before Hancock), eating snacks. Marigold and Sandersonia were practicing their powers and I had just informed them of my new intention.

"Yes, but not because I like owning people. She's important, like you three. Someone could argue that she is more significant than you. "

"How? And how do you know this?"

"She's used to fatally injure the person that liberates the slaves. If I have her, if you could take her with you maybe Fisher Tiger won't die. And it doesn’t matter how I know stuff," I explained.

"Fisher Tiger? Is that the name of our savior?" chimed in Sandersonia. She was trying to activate her power only in her arm.

"Yes, he's a Fishman. The information I have on the matter are sparse and second-hand. The only thing I know for certain is that he will scale up the Red Line and free the slaves. You three and Koala, the girl I'm searching for, will escape and while you are going to return to Amazon Lily, Koala'll get lost. Then sometimes later, Tiger will find her and take her home. However the villagers will sell him out to the marines, in his flight he'll be injured and need a blood transfusion from a human, but he'll refuse and he'll die. Because he's racist."

"If Koala wasn't lost, if you took Koala with you then Tiger won't die. Listen, I'm not asking you to take her to Amazon Lily, but just run away together," I continued. _So hopefully Cocoyashi Village won't have to deal with Arlong, Bell-mère will live and Nami won't hate pirates with such passion. And if Luffy needs the blood transfusion then more than one person will offer it._

"Alright," sighed Hancock relaxing her stance. "When is she going to arrive?"

"Well..." I stalled, looking anywhere but at the now glaring girl. Hearing my hesitation, the other two now also stopped their training and stared at me.

"Felicia."

"I'm not sure she's there, but..."

"Felicia."

"Dad said that he would send the first batch of girls this afternoon."

I saw Hancock look over and beyond my head, where I knew the clock was. Then she stared at me, slightly irked.

"It's four twenty, Felicia," deadpanned Hancock.

"Is that why you told us to stay in the solarium yesterday?" asked Marigold at the same time.

"...Maybe."

At my admission Hancock closed her eyes and sighed, Marigold rubbed her forehead and Sandersonia look at me with... amusement?

 _Is she the trickster of the family?_ I internally debated.

"Alright, Menace, let's go find you a slave," said Hancock while rising from her cushion.

"Menace?" I asked in part confused, in part amused.

"You are helping slaves and gathering them for their escape. You are a menace for this world."

"Aw, Hancock, is that _fondness_ I hear? Look, Mari, Sonny, the brat cares," I taunted with one hand on my heart and the other waving at the two. Sandersonia snickered while Marigold rolled her eyes.

"Now you're a menace to me. And stop calling me a brat, you are the youngest here."

"But I'm still your menace, right?" I smiled, batting my eyelashes.

She huffed but stayed quiet.

_I think we are friends now._

I spent the rest of the day smiling.

* * *

I definitely underestimated how many brown-haired girls there are in this damned city. We didn't find her in the first group. She also wasn't in the second one. Nor the third.

I was starting to panic. What if she was already someone else's? What if she was working in the city but after we went to the auction father would stop searching for her here?

The Boa Sisters didn't seem so concerned. I guessed it was because they didn't know Koala and didn't fully understand the ramifications of her future events. _If she's found the Arlong park Arc could be avoided. It could also benefit Otohime and her campaign._

Two days were left before our departure. Now I was hoping that she'd be at the Auction House. But first, a last group of slaves would be sent to my garden house.

The Gorgons were waiting for me in front of the doors of the drawing-room, where every crowd was sent.

I didn't know so many brown-haired girls could be slaves and initially, I wanted to take them all in but quickly realized I didn't have that much space to keep them away from others. So I just let them rest, recuperate and then I sent them back.

I took a deep breath and nodded at my three slaves. Hancock and Mari flanked me, Sonny opened the door.

There were six girls. All scrawny and dirty. They all looked afraid but still managed to bow to me. I dismissed the guards and balled my hands. _Right, here we go._

"Is anyone here named Koala?" I asked with fake confidence. _Please, please let her be here._

From the right side of the room, a little hand rose up.

_Oh, thank God._

The relief almost knocked me down. I gestured her to come forward.

"What's the name of your village, little one?" 

_Please say Fullshout. Please say Fullshout._

"Fullshout, Holy One." She answered still unsure.

I smiled then said to the other girls: "Your orders are to stay here, shower and rest. I'll send food so if you are hungry, eat. Tomorrow you'll return to your previous jobs."

"Come on, Koala, let's get you cleaned up." I took her hand and dragged her with us. The maids already knew to bring light food and prepare baths. Then I let Koala eat and get clean. Finally, I told her to rest and that we would talk the day after.

I hopped my way to the main house to inform my dad that I wouldn't go with him.

* * *

The next day was Saturday, so I was in my garden house early morning. I thought it was a good idea to bring L, he was always ready to cheer and snuggle everybody.

The night before I prepared my speech. I knew that Koala was more damaged than the Gorgons. It also made sense: the amazons were teenagers and were captured as teenagers. Koala was a kid. I just hoped by the time it was for them to run she would be better.

The talk went well. The Boa Sisters were also there, Sandersonia already looking like she adopted the child. I didn't think Koala got what I said and I gave her a watered-down version of my first conversation with the three sisters. Partially because she was was a child and partially because I was afraid she would tell somebody. I told her that I wanted to be her friend not her owner, that she didn't have to work anymore, that I knew someday she would be free and, as Fisher Tiger did, allowed her to cry.

She immediately started bawling her eyes out clutching L, who was licking and whining at her. We swiftly hugged her and after what felt like three hours she passed out.

After she woke up we spent the whole day playing. She was very hesitant but we were gentle and L helped her calm down.

The next day dad was leaving for the Auction House. Cas was going with him. I suspected he joined more due to his desire to explore and see new things than wanting to go to the auction.

Thus, we were on the front porch, two lines of maids, butlers and slaves were on each side of us ready to bow and say goodbye.

Dad had already talked to me and he was now smooching mom. We kids quickly looked away and made disgusted noise to the display, as is our duty as children. Cas hugged me tight and whispered to be good and prank Leo for him, which prompted the other one to punch his shoulders.

Then they were off. We waved at them 'till they disappeared, then returned inside.

They were gone for two weeks and nothing major happened during that period. On the weekdays I would study, at the weekend I would play with my slaves. The only thing noteworthy was learning that there would be a Reverie this October. (Because that didn't make me anxious at all. No, sir, it didn't.) I also found out that Koala was uneducated, obviously, and asked my other three slaves to teach her using my notes and books.

Cas and Dad arrived in the late afternoon almost dinnertime. Mom was ecstatic to have her boys back and threw a celebratory dinner. She asked Cas a thousand questions about the journey and fussed on him. He, in turn, half answered half asked his own question about my pranks. I told him that since our dear brother hated to be outdoors I brought the outdoors in. With the help of our mom, I covered the whole house in plants flowers and grass. Nothing was spared, be it a bed, a wall or a door. the best part was that we did it just the day before so Leo spent two weeks wary of me and my grin. “So that’s why there was still some dirt in the hallway,” dad sighed. Mom, Cas and I snickered, while Leo was glaring at us. Seeing that, Cas started laughing. Joke's on him, we swapped all his clothes with one size smaller ones. (I expected their revenge in no more than four days.)

During dinner, dad said he had a surprise for me. I didn't know what to think. On one hand, everybody loves surprises, on the other hand, knowing that the other members of the family didn't have a moral sense, it could be something traumatizing.

So the next day when I finished my classes I was hesitating on my dad's office door. L was with me. I had had him for more than six months but he still looked the same. On the flip side, I grew a little so instead of him being half my size he was a third.

I was still contemplating what the surprise could be outside the office, but L was clearly bored of waiting so he started barking. I heaved a sigh and entered. "Did you have something for me, dad?"

"Oh, Feli, you're here. Good. Come in, come in. Look at what I got!" He cheerfully said, waving me in. He put two boxes on the desk.

I came closer still unsure. He urged me to open them. There were two Devil Fruits and I was confused. One was a green pineapple, the other a red apple.

"The pineapple is the Mero Mero no Mi, the one you asked. This one on the right is the Mind-Mind Fruit. It's an apology for making you wait," explained my father.

Finally, I had Hancock's fruit. Smiling I hugged and kisses my father on the cheek.

"Thank you, dad. Can you have them brought in my garden house?" I asked happily.

"Of course, dear. Now shoo, your mom is waiting for me for our tea."

* * *

I skipped my way to the garden house. Jenna and Clara were following me with the boxes. We arrived in the drawing-room, they put down the boxes between me and my slaves and left the room.

Koala, the Boa Sisters and I were in the solarium. I was smiling ear to ear. Mari and Hancock were looking at me and at the boxes suspiciously while Sandersonia was ignoring us and pouring tea for Koala.

"This is the Mero-Mero fruit. It gives the power to turn things and people into stone. It's for you, Hancock" I said opening one of the boxes.

"The other box?" Asked warily the raven-haired girl. Mari had am impenetrable look on her face. Sandersonia had an arm around the oblivious child.

"That's the Mind-Mind Fruit, not sure what it does or what to do with it, but I'll figure something out," I shrugged. _Why are they so on edge?_

"So... you won't make Koala eat it?" asked this time Sonny.

I widened my eyes. _Are they saying...? Do they really think...?_

"NO! Of course not! Do you think I'll force her to...? Wait, hold on, do you think I'm ordering you, Hancock?" I asked scandalized, staring at her.

There was silence, so I continued: "I'm not making you do anything that you don't want, Hancock. I would never think about it. I mean, I would be happy if you ate it, but if that's not the case then I would simply give it to you."

I was hurt. I thought we were friends, that they knew I wasn't like the others.

"Did you really think I would?" I asked wistfully.

"No, but..." started Mari.

"Our previous owner force-fed them the entire things," said Hancock soberly.

"I won't. I never will. I thought we were past that."

The tension left them and they started looking guilty.

"I'm sorry," they all said simultaneously.

I nodded staring at my hands. The silence, the damn silence, returned.

Koala was also silent and looking between us trying to understand.

"I'll eat it," whispered Hancock. I raised my head hopeful.

"I'll eat it," she repeated, "but you'll eat the other one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading!
> 
> I know nothing about kanjis other than there are many of them and the Japanese use them. I did a little bit of research and put the mark on 4000.
> 
> I would also like to thank everybody that helped me with correcting previous chapters. Especially UncaBob. You are all angels.
> 
> Sadly, I can't take credit for the idea of making the heart eyes biologically possible. I read it in Twelve Red Lines by Vikingr on ff.net (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13167711/1/Twelve-Red-Lines) and found it a really clever way to show that the One Piece world isn't Earth. I just couldn't not do it too. Twelve Red Lines is also about getting stuck into One Piece and it is amazingly written. Updates are slow, but the chapters are long well worth the wait. 🙆
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: The Apple of Eden.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	5. The Apple of Eden

I blinked at Hancock.  _ She wants me to what? _

"What? Why?"

"These Fruits are one of the ways they tortured us. Do you know how hard it is to watch your sisters twisting and jerking to try to escape from being force-fed the entire thing? Heave and gag but getting their mouth shut? If you want me to eat it, you'll do it too," stated Hancock staring into my eyes.

I was torn. On one hand, I really wanted Hancock to eat it: when it's time to escape one more Devil Fruit user would be useful. On the other hand, I had no idea what this Fruit does. Is it something useful like the usual Fruits, is it disgusting but still helpful, like Caribou's or Trebol's, or is it nearly useless like Kin'emon's or the Jacket-Jacket Fruit? Furthermore, I never thought about eating one. Did I really want to lose the ability to swim in a world that's mostly water?  _ I want her to have the Mero Mero but maybe I could at least go find out the powers of this one. _

"Alright, I'll go look up what this apple does and then I'll tell you," I said starting to stand up.

"No, I don't want to see them ever again. Even if you gave it to us when we run, I’ll drop it in the ocean on the first occasion. We do it now or we don't."

"That's not fair. You know what yours does."

"Don't care. So, shall we?" She insisted.

I sighed. _ I have to, I can't let her go without her powers. Amazon Lily won't be safe without her Shichibukai position. _

"Very well. Let's just get it over with," I quickly said, plopping back down on my cushion. Then I cut a piece of each and served hers on a plate.

She looked at me confused.

"You don't need to eat the whole stuff. A bite will do the trick," I explained while pouring a glass of water for both of us. I stabbed my piece and clicked our forks together. "Bon Appetit, I guess."

I swiftly put the fruit in my mouth and washed it down with water. It only stayed in my mouth for a fraction of a second, but it was enough. It was like eating a rotten fish wrapped in moldy socks with overripe fruits and seasoned with chilis and habanero peppers while being in a pigpen. And even that didn't do it justice.  _ Holy shit, that was repulsive. And they had to eat the whole thing? How did they do it? What the fuck is wrong with the Celestial Dragon? _

I was hunched over my knees, trying not to vomit. I could also hear Hancock trying to not puke. Sandersonia and Marigold were encouraging and calming her.  _ Nice to know she ate hers. Now, what did I... _

I couldn't finish the line of thought because suddenly I had the worse migraine ever. My head was exploding. It was too full. I screamed and screamed until I heard a loud bang and quickly passed out.

* * *

I woke up in my room in the main house. My head still throbbed from the headache. I sat up and touched my forehead. I felt something, like a circlet on me. I heard something smack into the ground. A tray with a now-empty basin and a towel were on the floor. Around it, a wet spot. One maid was quickly fleeing the room. 

_ Well, that’s weird. She didn’t even close the door _ .

Suddenly the door was thrown open and I was in Leo’s arms. he was squeezing me, slightly rocking side to side. Rhythmic thumps announced Cas and then he joined the hug. My parents also came, mom cried when she saw me, but quickly recomposed herself and told my brothers to let me breathe. My father was still on the  threshold with a stoic look. That put me on edge, dad was a touchy-feely guy.

If that wasn’t enough to tell me something was wrong, a doctor also arrived and swiftly checked me up. He whispered something in father’s ear, bowed and left. Dad, in an emotionless voice, ordered Cas and Leo to leave and at that moment I knew I was in trouble.

“The Mind-Mind Fruit grants the user complete control over their nervous system and that of the others,” he said in a flat voice. “It also grants telepathy but in exchange for that, the autonomous nervous system becomes completely voluntary. You spent the last four days alternating between cardiac arrests and tachycardia, among the other things. Your brain functions oscillated between a coma-like state and overstimulation. The doctors even had to revive you five times. The only reason you are awake now is that circlet on your head.”

I blinked a couple of times, realizing the gravity of the situation. He sighed, walked up to the bed and sat on the nearby chair. Mom put a hand on his shoulder and I finally noticed her misty eyes. I felt horribly guilty and lowered my gaze.

“Why did you do it, Felicia? Why did you eat it without knowing what it’ll do? I thought you were a smart girl, but this isn’t something a smart girl would do. So, help me understand,” he continued with a defeated tone.

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t tell them about Hancock, they would punish her or worse, take my slaves away. But I also couldn’t stay quiet, not when they were so focused on me.

“I just wanted to gain its power,” I tried convincing them.

“That’s a lie,” said my mother. Her voice cracked and had an angry edge to it. “Even if you wanted to eat a Devil Fruit, the Felicia I know would have found out what it’d do. So why did you do it?”

I stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. I didn’t raise my eyes but I could still feel their disapproving looks.

“Very well,” resumed my father with a resigned tone. “You are grounded for the foreseeable future. L will be taken from you, don’t worry your slaves and one of your nannies will take care of him. You’ll be banned from your garden house and your slaves. You’ll also copy down every book we have on Devil Fruits and their drawbacks. Furthermore tomorrow someone will start teaching you how to use your power. You'll train with him every morning for two hours. You'll do everything he asks you to. He won't hurt you, but you'll not be able to boss him. We don’t want you to lose that circlet and die, do we?”

He put his hands on his knees and stood up. When they were halfway to the door I stopped them.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you worry.”

“We know, sweetheart,” said my mother, turning towards me. She gave me a weak smile. “But that was beyond reckless and you scared us so much. After what happened on your birthday and now this, we just worry that next time you won’t be so lucky.”

“Rest now, dear,” gently ordered my dad. “You’ll need all your energy for tomorrow.”

They left and I flopped back with my arms on my face.

_ One step forward, two steps back. _

* * *

My brothers returned shortly after and they were surprised to find out my punishment. Cas felt mildly challenged: I, his sweet little sister, managed to anger our parents so bad that they grounded me. (“Wow, I wonder what do I have to do to be grounded too,” he puzzled. ”That’s not something you want,” sighed Leo.)

I spent the rest of the day mulling over my own stupid actions.  _ I should have done some research about the Fruit. But nooo, I’m an easily overexcited, weak idiot. In a world where weak idiots drop like flies. _

I also started transcribing the first book on Devil Fruits. I found the Mind-Mind Fruit ( _ Oh look, mine _ ) and felt even more like a reckless moron. Apparently, it enhanced all my mental capabilities (memory, information learning, analysis and problem solving) and it did grant complete control on the nervous system so now I had to always ensure that my senses were functioning, think about breathing, keeping my heart beating and, generally, make sure my body functions are stable.

_ Great. This fruit is clearly on the useless category. I mean, yes, I get telepathy, but I’m constantly risking to die in a hundred different ways. And I can’t swim. It definitely wasn’t worth it. _

I went to bed moaning and grumbling about my situation.

The next day I was woken up getting my blanket yanked away and being shaken. I grunted something intelligible while turning on the other side trying to get back to sleep.

“Get up!" Shouted a voice. "I want you on the front door in thirty minutes, dressed and washed.”

I shot up, blinking and looking around me, trying to understand what’s going on. There was a marine at the end of the bed with my covers in his hand. 

“I am Lieutenant Commander Shiotai, your instructor. I want you ready in thirty minutes. We are starting your training, breakfast or no breakfast,” he stated firmly and then left.

I stared at the place where he stood, then exhaled and shuffled out of bed. My gaze rested on the clock on my bedside table. It’s 5:00 am. I rubbed my face and resigned myself to a long day.

I did get to eat breakfast. Well, most of it: he came and dragged me out halfway through. Now we were in the forest surrounding Marie Goise. Funny that my first time out the house was when I was grounded. Not that I looked around to appreciate the sight, I was still half asleep.

We walked for a good while and I slowly became more aware as time passed. I stared at the marine, trying to remember if he appeared in the story. The name didn’t ring any bell nor his appearance. He was a tall guy, not a giant, but I estimated he surpassed my father in height. He was lean but still well built. His face didn’t stand out: brown hair, brown eyes and a five o’clock shadow. In other words, his appearance was the most average I saw in this place, almost boring.

However, something in him made me refrain from idle chit chat. His posture, his confidence made me follow him quietly.

We arrived in a clearing with a cage in it. It was big enough to stand upright in it even for him and on one side there was a chair inside.

“For the duration of your tuition, you will address me as Lieutenant Commander Shoitai or sir. This is where you’ll train. Today I guided you here but from tomorrow I expect you to come here by yourself. I expect you here at 6:00 am. If you are late then I’ll add two series of twenty-five sit-ups and two of push-ups for you and we won’t start until you’ve done them,” he explained.

“This cage is made of Seastone Prism, as is your circlet so that you won’t be distracted by anything that isn’t inside. You’ll enter the cage, take your circlet off and for the next ten minutes, you’ll try not to die. If I see you gasping and losing control I’ll use my power to stop yours. Furthermore, I’ll add a series of sit-ups, one of push-ups and two laps around your house at the end of the session for every time I have to touch you. After the two hours are up we'll return to your house and start doing every penalty you collected.

If you manage to keep your power in check for all of the ten minutes, then there’ll be another ten for you to rest and after that, we will start again. when you can do it ten times consecutively we’ll move to twenty minutes and so on until we reach two hours. I’ll explain the next step of your training when we get there,” he continued matter of factually. “Are there any questions?”

_ Yes, what did I do to deserve this? _ I wanted to ask, but instead said: “Your power? And if my circlet is made of seastone shouldn’t I be limping on the ground?”

“Your circlet is not made completely of seastone. It’s enough to suppress your powers but not to leave you helpless on the ground. And I ate the Halt-Halt Fruit. It allows me to stop everything, even others’ power,” he answered opening the cage.

I nodded and went inside. I sat on the chair nervously.

“Now, concentrate,” the Lieutenant instructed.

He stood behind me and took my circlet off. I was bombarded by a thousand stimuli. I could feel my heart beating, my blood flowing, my lungs filling and emptying. I felt the acid in my stomach agitating without control. I was nauseous and my temperature rose. I was starting to panic but a hand rested on my shoulder.

“That was thirty seconds. And your first penalty.”

_ Oooh, this is gonna take long. _

“Now, again.”

* * *

I lost count on how many penalties I racked up that single morning ~~a fuck-a-ton~~ , but I was sure that he remembered them all and made me do every single one because I spent the rest of the morning doing the exercises under his watchful eyes.

Naturally, my studies where pushed in the afternoon. I was exhausted. I didn't retain much from history and I only learned three new kanjis instead of my usual five.

At the end of the day I had just enough strength to crawl into my bed. I didn't even have dinner. Luckily after lunch I asked one of the maids to wake me up at the right time. The last thing I wanted was to be late.

The days after weren't much different. On weekdays I didn't have the energy to continue my transcription, so I did them at the weekends.

However now it was the end of the third week and I still wasn't improving. It felt like I was a baby again and couldn't control my bladder.

I was frustrated, tired and angry. Sir also was starting to be upset so he gave me the next day (Sunday) free to rest and try to figure out why I wasn't improving.

I woke up late but didn't go back to copy the books. It was my rest day, damn it. Fortunately sore muscles weren't a problem anymore, not after three weeks of constant training. I lazed around for a bit then I remembered that I haven't checked my memory palace since I got the Fruit.

So I went in and found chaos. The books in the living room were all thrown around, the couch was diagonal instead of against the wall. The kitchen was in no better condition: the stove was on, cupboards and drawers opened, their content on the floor. The two bedrooms were also destroyed: the beds unmade and the knick-knacks all smashed. All around there was mist and when I tried to move to start tidying up, my power tried to activate but the seastone circlet did its job. I realized, almost panicking, that the mist was the Fruit.  _ Holy crap, this is bad. I need to move it. I can't clear things out here with the mist around. What if the seastone stops working and I suddenly die? Can a seastone be overused and therefore break? _

I looked around searching for a place to dump the mist. I didn't find any so I made a new room connected to the rest by what was once my entrance door. The process was significantly quicker than every other time I did it. To be fair, I only created a simple room without anything in it and moved there the mist, nothing too complicated. Then I went to clean the apartment.

I finished and returned outside. I skipped lunch and it was now afternoon so I went to find something to snack on. After eating I decided it was time to hit the books. I went back to my room and started copying.

And that's how I realized I now had a photographic memory. That night as I was preparing for bed I still could remember every word, every punctuation mark like I just wrote it. For a moment, I was confused then I remembered that the book said that the Fruit would improve my mental skills.  _ Well, that's cool. At least this blasted power didn't just try to kill me. _

I was half asleep when I sat up, realizing something.  _ I have a mental apartment. It will fill up in a few months if I continue to remember stuff. That's why the new life bedroom was fuller than I last remembered it. It had the memories of these three weeks. I need to create another room, but this one must be big. _

I reentered my palace. I went to the bedroom, the door that in reality lead to the walk-in closet would become a library. It resembled the biggest library in my house with its double floors and floor to ceiling bookcases. I decided to put only one desk (it's not like anyone else would be in here) and add a few more bookcases.

Then I divided the room: the upper floor would contain memories of events and everyday life, the ground floor would store knowledge. I then transferred the memories of the last three weeks in there, happily noticing that it didn't even fill one shelf. Satisfied, I came out and fell asleep.

The next day I woke up more rested than I ever was in the past three weeks. I completed my morning routine and went to the clearing. Usually I was half asleep and nervous during the way but today I was strangely focused even if a bit jittery.

Thus I was finally able to look around. All the mansions were pure white. They were very spacious and had a garden and a fence around them. The streets were the cleanest I ever saw a city have. There were no alleys only vast streets with blooming trees. You could see the mosaic bottom of the fountains, which had carved girls dancing with fishes and other aquatic creatures. It was idyllic sight if it wasn’t for the slaves sweeping the ground and trimming the bushes. The travelators were of course working but I didn’t step on them and never would.

I arrived at the site of my training.

“Good morning, sir,” I said to the marine almost happily.

He frowned but greeted me back. He was suspicious because the only moods I presented when I was here were frustration and defeat. Even so, he stayed quiet and opened the door.

I took my place and waited for him to do the same.

“Now, concentrate,” he instructed and took the circlet. 

I closed my eyes and tried to relax. In the second week of my training, he told me to visualize a pond. (A bit ironic considering what happens when I come in contact with water) Life under it was moving and going on but the surface was calm. So I did it but it never worked.

However, this time when I felt his hand on my shoulder, instead of giving me a moment to recuperate and berating me for my incompetence, he roughly turned me so that I was facing him.

“What did you do?” He asked, staring into my eyes.

“Uhm, I lost control?”

“You lasted eight minutes and forty-six seconds. In the three weeks of our continuous training, you didn’t even reach the four-minute mark. So, what did you do?”

“Nothing. I visualized the pond, as usual.” I quickly answered, internally happy that I finally did somewhat progress.

“Alright, what did you do yesterday?” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, one hand still holding my shoulder.

“Well, I woke up late, copied some books and oooh…”

A lightbulb went off in my head. He raised one eyebrow still staring at me but I was miles away.  _ Is it because I cleared my mind yesterday. It does make sense, kinda. The power was all round and I just shoved it on one side. Was it really enough to better control it? _

“Well? Care to tell me?” He asked impatiently.

“I have a memory palace. I always had it. Yesterday was the first time since the accident that I visited it and it was a mess. So I tidied up. There was this mist, for a lack of a better word, and when I moved through it I felt my power trying to activate. I was scared the seastone wouldn't be enough so I created a new room and shoved the mist there," I explained.

The lieutenant stared at me for a bit silently and I started to squirm under his gaze.

"Good, now we know what to do. Put this back on. Change of plans," he ordered giving me back my swiftly-becoming least favorite accessory, the circlet.

"Can you enter your mind palace but still hear my voice?"

"I don't know, sir. Maybe?"

"Then listen now good. I want you to go to the mist room and create a large vat where you will put the mist. Then you'll create a control panel attached to it with levers and bars. Those will symbolize your body parameters: temperature, blood pressure, oxygen concentration, glucose concentration and so on. The more the better. Then we will start again. Hopefully, this will work."

"But I don't know all the parameters necessary to make the body function."

"Then I guess it's time for you to go study," he answered flippantly. He went to open the door. "Come on, today we are done here. If tomorrow you haven't reached some result I will make sure you'll regret it."

I nodded furiously, not wanting to upset him. I was walking back home when he called.  "And don't forget today's penalty! I will know if you don't do it and you'll pay!"

I groaned but didn't dare disobey.

* * *

I finished my exercise fairly quickly. Since my lessons were moved in the afternoon a while ago I spent the rest of the morning reading all I could find about physiology and biochemistry. Thanks to my new photographic memory it only took one read to retain the facts. Even so when I finished it was time for lunch.

I went about my studies normally, now I didn't need to review the materials to know the answers. After dinner I went into my mind apartment and did what the Lieutenant Commander instructed. I made sure that every lever was labeled and that it had a scale with the standard condition highlighted.

I went to sleep with a smug smile.

The next day I walked in the clearing sure that I would resist all ten minutes. Sir apparently was also certain I could do it: for the first time he brought a newspaper and told me if I interrupted him I would pay.  _ Aw, my teacher is silently encouraging me. Kinda. Is he a tsundere? Not that I would ever ask him. I like living. _

So I took off my circlet. I lasted all ten minutes and I couldn't suppress my smile. I looked back at him. He didn't say anything, only huffed continuing reading the news. I could still see a little spark of pride in his eyes tho.

I repeated the process three more times then asked if I could move to twenty minutes. He shrugged and I took it as a yes.

During the breaks I pleaded for him to extend our time since I had the morning free and I was determined to avoid any physical activity today. He grumbled a bit but didn't deny me.

It was working. A couple of times my control wobbled a little but I quickly readjusted the levers.

When I was at the full hour without circlet he told me to stop and start doing push-ups.

"But I didn't make you use your power!" I protested.

"Didn't you hear the saying 'mens sana in corpore sano', shrimp?" He cheerfully said.

"But... But... Argh! I hate you!" I screamed, indignant.

"And that's what keeps me alive. Now go before I decide to add some more."

I ran away perfectly knowing that he would, just to make a point. Even so I was elated and couldn't forget the pride that shone in his eyes.

"And remember to stretch after!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'm really proud of the title of this chapter. I felt really smart when I came up with it. You know, the fruit of the garden that granted knowledge and lead humanity to be punished. It felt like I was being deep.🐍
> 
> In the beginning, I thought I wouldn't need to create OC except for the family of Feli. One Piece has enough character on his own, I thought I didn't need to add some more. And here I am, with my fifth OC and my sixth already planned.
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: More Training and Preparations.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	6. More Training and Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An explanation:
> 
> "This is conversation."
> 
> _This is thoughts._  
>   
>  _This is telepathy._  
> 
> 
> We good? We good.  
> Enjoy! 😁

The next morning I proved that I could be without the circlet for four hours. Sir told me to go home and that the day after we’ll upgrade to the next level.

So the next day I arrived at the clearing and found out that the cage was now modified. On one side there was a tank of water. Connected to it there were various little tanks, everyone with a shut door and a fish in it.

I entered the cage while he explained that after I had control over my power he would let the fishes enter the cage one at time. I took off the circlet and nodded to let him know I was ready. It was a weird sensation, like trying to listen to your heartbeat while being in the middle of a storm.

It took me three days to have all the fishes. It took me another three to repeat the process with lab rats. 

We were now on people. I was a bit nervous because the first time I failed with the fishes the one that was added died. I knew that the path I chose would lead me to take life but I didn’t want it to be when I was six or as a result of my inability to control myself. The lieutenant silently reassured me by letting his hand hover over my shoulder during the exercise. After three hours and five penalties, sir stopped me. I couldn’t have more than two people with me. He let me out and asked: “ Talk to me. Explain what it feels like.”

“It’s like trying to sleep, but next door there’s a party going.”

“Then close the windows,” he said dryly.

Thus, I switched to soundproofing the room. I even made the walls layered multiple times just to make sure. When we were up to fifteen, I didn’t go into the cage anymore and we gradually moved closer and closer to my home.

After two weeks I had my training in the house. Then the lieutenant started following me during my afternoon studies and he wouldn’t allow me to have the circlet. After a week he began leaving me more and more time alone.

During that time I felt like my training was coming to an end, so I spent three days pleading him to teach me telepathy. At first, he refused, saying that it wasn’t his job but in the end, with much pouting, begging and puppy eyes, he accepted.

Therefore, we went back to the clearing and the cage. This time he entered with me. He ordered me to try sensing his mind without losing control. I closed my eyes and tried to focus. It didn’t work, but I didn’t want to take down my walls, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to contain my power at home without them. I illustrated the problem and sir suggested creating a new room, away from my main apartment, but still connected. So now there was a new door in, what I called, the control room. It led to a long hallway, with a fire door at the end of it. I didn’t want anything to spill in the central part of my mind so I made sure that the door was very sturdy.

Borrowing from the first exercise the Lieutenant gave me, I imagined a calm pond on the other side of the door. I envisioned the pond as the space around me and if I touched it the ripples would symbolize my power scanning my surroundings. If the ripples stopped or returned back then it would mean I found another mind. It worked, but now I had to figure out how to establish a link with who I found. Therefore for the next few days, I mulled over it. Then one day, on a whim, I touched the place where the ripples stopped. I felt the connection with the lieutenant. It was strange: it was like we were on different sides of a thin wall. I instinctually knew that if I said something or put my ear near it we could communicate. So I did just that.

_Hello?_

Sir, still sitting in front of me, perked up and the tiniest smile graced his face.  _Good, now we can move to the next stage_ , he responded.

I mentally rolled my eyes. _Of course, he would instantly move forward._

_I heard and felt that,_ he snarked. He also felt amused.

I quickly took my hand away from the pond. _So thoughts and feelings aren’t private during the link. A bit obvious, but good to know._

Thus, we began training my telepathy doing the same process as before. First with the fishes, then lab rats, later slaves and so on. Naturally, the ripples stopped in various places but if I drifted my hand over them I could differentiate them.

When we were at the stage where we started approaching the city, I noticed two things. First, I had a range of about two hundred meters. Second, my pond was too small: the ripples would stop even before starting.

The first point wasn’t a problem I could solve immediately, I assumed training would increase my range. For the second, I expanded the pond into a very shallow small pool. Since it was all in my mind, and therefore not bound by the laws of physics or reality, if I needed to make a connection I could just fly to the exact point.

Thus my training was complete. Finally, after almost three months I wouldn’t need to wake up at dawn anymore. The last day the Lieutenant came for my training we went over everything I learned.

“Today is the last day I will come here. I thought it’d take you more time to master your power. I’m almost impressed. You did good, kid,” he said at the end of his visit.

My vision blurred. It was the first time he praised me. I blinked away the tears. “Thank you, sir. I’ll miss you, but not the penalties,” I said with the biggest smile possible.

He snorted. We both knew it was a lie: a couple of weeks ago I stopped getting any so I started jogging around the mansion every evening after the lessons of my own volition.

He nodded, patted my head and left. I returned to my desk, I still had five books to copy. My father said I would be allowed back in my garden house only after I finished transcribing.

* * *

I slammed the last book on my father's desk. I was vibrating on the spot, waiting for him to permit me to go see Hancock and the others. He didn't raise his head but I saw him smirk. "Since you've finished all your tasks, you can return to your house in the garden. I hope you've learned your lesson and won't do anything like that again."

I was out and sprinting towards the garden even before he finished talking. I did a quick mental scan to see where they were. Confronting their position with my mental map of the building, I knew that they were in the dining room but they were moving in the solarium.

I turned the corner and caught them entering my favorite room. L was in Sandersonia's arms and had clearly heard me. He squirmed and wiggled until he was put down, then immediately run towards me, barking and wagging his tail.

I opened my arms still running to them. L jumped on me, making me fall. He licked me and rubbed himself on me, whining and circling me. I cooed and tried to pet him, but he was too excited to let me do it properly.

Now the Boa sisters and Koala were around me and they helped me stand up. L was moving between us, back and forth between me and the others, excited. The girls also expressed their happiness for seeing me again and wanted to know what happened and why I couldn't see them for so long. We quickly moved to the solarium. After I sat on my favorite green cushion L plopped himself on my lap and demanded his cuddles, loudly whining if I stopped stroking him. Koala looked almost jealous of me. I guessed she became very fond of my pup. Also, she was more open than before: in the beginning, she couldn't meet my eyes now she was seconds away from glaring at me.

I started telling what my Devil Fruit power was and what happened that day. Then I told them about my punishment, Lieutenant Commander Shiotai and my training.

"Hold on a moment, it doesn't make sense," Said Marigold, scowling in confusion.

"What doesn't? My training?"

"No, your power. That day, before you passed out, there was a blast coming from you. I remember because you threw us back. Small table, cushions, plants and all," she elaborated.

"Yes, I also saw that!" Exclaimed Sandersonia. "I remember it clearly because your eyes and ears were bleeding. Some blood flew and almost hit us. It was horrifying and disgusting."

"What?" I said dazedly.

_Could I have the Conqueror's Haki? But in the series, it affected only living creatures not object. Well Shanks' Haki, when he talked to Whitebeard, did damage the Moby Dick, but I don't think I have that much power. I would have noticed it before. So it must be the fruit._

"I'll do some research later. Now Hancock how are you? How are you adjusting?"

"I'm good. I can fully control my power. Bathing is exhausting, tho." For some reason, she wasn't looking in my eyes.

"She spent the first two months accidentally turning things into stone. Only after the first one, she learned how to turn them back to normal." Sonny cheekily informed me.

Hancock glared at her sister and Mari and Koala giggled. I snorted and Hancock shifted her glare onto me.

"Sorry, sorry," I said, trying to appease her.

She nodded still pouting.

"And you, Koala? What have you done these three months?" I asked, shifting the spotlight away from the now blushing raven-haired girl.

"I fed L!" She said all excited, "and played fetch with him, he's still learning how to give back the ball. I also taught him to give paw and stay."

"Wow, Koala, you really did a good job. Thank you for taking care of him for me."

Hearing that she became sad.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I frowned.

"Now that you're here you'll take him away and I won't see him anymore."

"Of course not! You're his friend! You will still see him," I quickly reassured her.

"Really?" She sniffed, looking hopeful.

"Really. Tell you what. Why don't you help me train him? Since you've done an amazing job already."

She nodded returning to smile. We spent the next few hours chatting. We spent the night together having our first sleepover all four of us (plus L).

“Pst, Felicia?”

“Mhm?” I was almost asleep. I turned and found Hancock looking at me.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know that you didn’t want to eat the Devil Fruit and I know that you almost died and I know that you were grounded for it. So, I’m sorry. And thank you for covering for us, I know we weren’t punished only because you said nothing.”

I smiled and wiggled nearer her. “You are welcome, brat. In the end, I think I like this Fruit, so it’s fine. Now shush, you are going to wake Koala.”

* * *

The next few months were uneventful. I finally finished my math program. My science class was also concluding since I cut my biology program (thanks, Devil Fruit). I still had History, even with the Void Century I was still only halfway through, and kanjis, which I still couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I celebrated my sixth birthday without the drama of the previous one, thankfully. I didn't know if I could stand another shock like that. So now we where at the end of the summer with _still_ no climbing fishman in sight. I was slightly preoccupied, but it's not like I could go down to Fishman Island and drag the racist sea bream up. So I waited.

And waited.

Until one day, after my studies, I read the newspaper my father left in his office. A few months back I asked the maids in charge of keeping my dad's office clean to not trash it.

Thus a few pages in, between propaganda articles and some gossip, I found a paragraph of a new disease in the North Blue. There were only a few sick people, thus not being on the front page, but it was a new infection and the place, Flavence, was where the materials, which most of the building of Mary Geoise were made, came from. It took me a moment to connect it to the series. Then I had a mild panic attack.

_For the love of everything good, can't they be more spaced out? The Reverie, Fisher Tiger and now the Amber Lead disease? How can I help Law while dealing with everything else? I don't want Rosinante to die, but I can't leave before Tiger is here. And even if he comes before Rosinante finds the Ope Ope no Mi, after the slave liberation how could I convince my parents to let me go? 'Mom, dad, you know that I love you very much. So, will you let me go down where the inferior people are to let me save one of them from the mob, which is led by a former Celestial Dragon, pretty please? With a cherry on top?' Besides, after my stunt with the Devil Fruit, I don't think they'll let me out of sight anytime soon._

The following days, I contemplate what to do. Plans were formed and discarded. I thought of locking myself in the garden house and sneaking quietly out of the city in the death of night. I thought of letting the Gorgons escape earlier than intended and asking them to help Rosinante. I thought of writing a letter to Dragon and mailing it to Momoiro Island and Emporio Ivankov or directly to Baltigo. Nothing seemed plausible and with the stress of the Reverie, not even a month away now, I was frantic.

I wanted to seek advice from someone but I didn't trust anybody. I immediately discarded my family, they would ask questions and wouldn't like the answers. The Boa sisters came to mind, but I didn't want to tell them more than necessary. Koala was out of the question. I contemplated sir for a moment, but even if I liked him I didn't know if he was trustworthy. He was still a marine. Then a lightbulb lit in my mind.

_Who's the most trustworthy marine? Who kept one of the most important secrets for decades? Garp. I need Garp. But how can I meet him? He doesn't like the World Nobles, so I don't think he'll come here even if I ask nicely. Wait, when the Reverie happened in the series he was there. So maybe he'll be here in three weeks. Oh God, let him be here._

Now I needed to figure out what to say to him. I couldn't give him the whole story. 'Hey, Garp, can you do me a solid and help this undercover agent give a Devil Fruit to a kid, who'll become a pirate of the Worst Generation, instead of Sengoku, your bestie, as is his mission objective?'

Yeah, he is trustworthy but not _that_ trustworthy.

_Ugh, why is he so loyal to the Marine? He's a D, he isn't supposed to be loyal to the damned Marine._

_Oh. OH._

_I could tell Garp about him. He would plunk the sticky asshole into the ground, but, really, that's what he deserves._

_Now, how can I tell him without encountering the Fist of Love? Even if I don't think he'll put much love into it for me. Oh, well, you can't please everyone._

* * *

Now that I knew what to do I need to make preparation and mentally prepare myself. That meant enlisting the amazons' help, among other things. We were in the drawing-room, playing Snakes and Ladders. I distracted Koala with L so I could speak with them peacefully.

"Sooo, in a couple of weeks there's going to be the Reverie," I started.

"What's that?" Asked Sandersonia, while slipping down a snake.

"It's a meeting between all the rulers of the nations that are part of the World Government."

"Oh, cool," said Hancock soberly.

There was a pregnant pause while I thought about how to continue. A few minutes passed without anyone talking. I squirmed on my seat, contemplating how to breach the subject.

"Alright, spit it out. What do you want?" Asked bluntly Marigold, with the dice in her hand.

"Well, there's this person that'll be at the event. I need to ask him something but he sort of scares me. So I wondered if..."

"You wondered if we could talk to him for you?"

"What? No, not that. I wanted you to come with me..."

"Yeah, sure," She agreed, shaking her hand and returning to the game.

"...In snake form," I added whispering a bit later.

That made them pause and focus on me fully.

"I beg your pardon?" Said Hancock blinking.

"You see, this guy is really scary and I need to make sure that I get his help. So I thought that two scary snake-looking women and another one that can turn things into stone might help me... convince him."

Yes, threatening Garp The Fist was my plan. A dumb one, God knew it was completely idiotic, but it was the best thing I could come up with. I just hoped he wouldn't punch the life out of me before I finished speaking.

The girls blinked, then Hancock asked: " Alright, I'll bite. Who's the guy?"

"Vice-Admiral Garp," I mumbled softly.

They heard me regardless and started laughing, thinking I was joking. Then they realized I was dead serious and their amusement turned into disbelieving shock.

"I'm sorry, did you just say that you want to threaten Vice-Admiral Garp? As in the Hero of the Marines? Are you high?"

"Threaten is such a strong word," I argued. "I would call it... strongly sway him in my favor."

At my words, Mari went stone-faced, Sandersonia shifted her eyes around trying to find a way out and Hancock put her face in her hands.

"Oh merciful Goddess, you really are going to threaten him," she moaned from behind her hands. "You _are_ a menace to yourself and everyone around you. Why? What would make you consider this madness? What made you so desperate to think this is a good idea?"

I was a little putback. _I know it sounds crazy but does it really sounds that crazy?_

"Well, there's a mole in the Marines. One of the information he leaks will lead to a good man's death. I'm trying to prevent that. I thought telling the most trustworthy and powerful marine about it would help. Besides Garp's the only one that has that much sway and is free enough to do something without repercussions."

"That explains why you want to speak with him, not intimidate him," cut in Marigold, rather brusquely.

"He kind of hates the Celestial Dragons, so I _really_ need to catch his attention," I answered sheepishly.

"And your solution is threats."

"At least you can't say I'm not committed," I shrugged.

Then there fell a pregnant silence. They were whispering to each other. I could read their mind, but I wanted to trust them. When I was nearly sure they would deny me, they reached a conclusion. Sonny started snickering, Marigold was rubbing her forehead and Hancock sighed.

"Yeah, right," She agreed. "But if he hits you we won't help."

I eagerly nodded, happy I succeeded in my intent.

* * *

I was almost ready for the Reverie. Almost. The week before the start of the talking, I realized that I needed to have a way to alert the guards if Garp decides to kill me. Not that I thought that he would actually murder me (I was still a kid), but at the same time it _did_ take Sengoku to stop him from punching Akainu out of existence during the Summit War. So better safe than sorry.

I didn't want to involve Koala, I didn't want to endanger a child (a bit ironic, I knew) and the less she knew, the better. My choice was L. He was fast when he wanted and trained enough to follow simple orders. He was the goodest and smartest boy ever.

But there was a teeny-tiny problem. If Garp started getting angry I couldn't exactly yell 'go get the guards!', could I? I wasn't so sure I would be in the right presence of mind to be able to nor that L would understand my order. Therefore, I concluded that I needed to have a mind link with my dog while I was talking to the Vice-Admiral.

From the start of my plotting, I always wanted to use my telepathy with Garp. Mainly for two reasons: I could immediately know Garp's emotional state, so I knew when it was time to run, and nobody could spy on us. The last thing I needed was the Cypher Pol hearing me and becoming suspicious.

That brought another set of problems. I had never mentally talked with two living beings at the same time. So, a few days away from the Reverie I started practicing with the Boa sisters, who were happy to know I wasn't fully suicidal and put some thoughts on how to get help if needed. Needless to say, they were eager to help me train. But it didn't work. Well, it did, I _could_ form two links but words and feelings from them were jumbled and mixed together. For me to distinguish the two it'd take more training, more than a handful of days could give.

So, two days from D-day, I was back to square one. We were in the solarium, all of us, trying to relax with various degrees of success. Koala was drawing and L was near her gnawing on a bone.

I still believed that a mind link was the right solution. I was gazing at L trying to find an answer. _Maybe if I create something more permanent? Perhaps that would make the connection with L stronger and simpler to differentiate it from the other._

I wasn't against a long-lasting link with my puppy. He was my sweet boy, loyal to a fault and nobody could pry information from him. With the other, the Gorgons and the Lieutenant, I didn't want nor need that kind of connection. But L was a different story. _So how do I do it? I know how to make a connection but how can I make it last?_

I pondered how to do it. It would need to start at the pool, that was the seat of my power. But then I wondered how to connect us. An idea flashed in my mind.

I quickly imagined my pond and found L's mind. When I touched the surface of the water he jerked up and looked at me. He was confused for a moment, then excited. Happiness and affection flooded me and I poured my love back at him. In the real world, he stood up and walked up at me, tail wagging and his bone forgotten.

For a minute I basked in the feeling then returned to the task. The wall that was separating our mind was thinner than the one with the Boa sisters or sir. I wondered if it was because he was an animal, but it wasn't important at the moment.

I breached the surface of the lake and touched the bottom of it. I could feel a key in a lock and I smiled. It was working. I turned the key and a small vortex was formed, draining a little of water.

I returned to reality and thought:  _Paw_. 

L obeyed me. I smiled and petted him, telepathically telling him what a good boy he was. I quickly asked Sandersonia to help me test again my double link.

It worked perfectly. Now I was ready for the Reverie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading!
> 
> Initially, the previous chapter and this one should have been a single one. But then when I was writing I decided to split it. Partially because of the length, partially because I wanted to introduce the Reverie and it didn't fit with the title of the previous chapter.😳
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: Twinkle Twinkle Elder Stars.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	7. Twinkle Twinkle Elder Stars

I woke up surprisingly at a decent hour. The night before I couldn’t relax so I turned in bed for a long time before finally falling asleep. It was the day of the beginning of the Reverie. At dinner, I got permission to go see the various kings arriving. But only with protection, which my three Devil Fruit users slaves and L qualified as such.

I quickly ate breakfast and washed, eager to finally start to actively be helpful here. I knew that I was already doing something good: my slaves weren't mistreated, the sisters were training their powers and Koala now looked only a bit underweight. But most of the time, I just waited for Tiger to show up. This, alerting Garp, felt more productive.

_You'd think that for how much the guy hates human he'd be chomping at the bit to climb the Red Line. But nooo, more than a year in and we hadn't seen hide nor hair of him. Or scale, being a fish. Great, now I've called it. With my luck, he'll come during the summit. Oh, please let it not be now. Anytime but now._ Shaking my head I banished my thoughts away. Then I went to the front door. My morning routine was quite swift, courtesy of the Lieutenant Commander and his spartan training. My escort was already at the door waiting for me. I greeted them and scratched L behind the ears.

We were now walking to Pangea Castle. I was tense and nervous, I felt like I needed to puke. (I knew I shouldn't have had that last piece of bacon) Instead, the three girls looked completely relaxed nor seemed to notice my tension, on the contrary L, the only loyal one, was leaning into me trying to comfort me.

“Aren’t you anxious?” I finally asked them, a little bit accusatory.

“Not really,” answered Sandersonia immediately.

“We just have to stand there and look intimidating,” continued Mari.

“Furthermore, we are in Mary Geoise. Even if you anger him the place will be full of guards. In case he hits you he can't kill you with one punch. He’s not made of steel,” explained Hancock.

I suddenly stopped at their words. _Oh, my sweet summer children, you don’t know._

The sisters got past me then also came to a halt. they turned and looked at me, head tilted.

“Haki can harden the body so much that you can crush boulders with your bare hands. Garp can use Haki,” I informed them in a detached tone.

Their eyes widened. Sandersonia started laughing, soft and hollow. Marigold, white as a ghost, looked like she didn’t know if she wanted to strangle me or join her sister. Hancock was furious, a muscle near her left eye started twitching.

“That is the kind of information you give when you ask the favor, not _minutes_ before we meet the guy,” she scolded me, sounding vaguely like my father months ago.

“I thought you knew about Haki!” I quickly defended myself.

She closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Right. anything else we need to know? Can he kill us with a glance?”

“There are three types of Haki: with Kenbunshoku nobody can sneak on you, Bosushoku is the one that hardens you and Haoshoku, which is rare, can make weak people faint. Garp has the first two and maybe also the third.”

“Maybe? What does it mean ‘maybe’? He has it or he doesn’t.”

“It means his grandson has it but I don’t know if he got it from him.” I started to sound angry. That was not what I wanted. I just wanted to feel like I wasn’t the only one panicking.

“Look, that’s not important. Let’s just go and get it over with,” I closed the discussion and walked past them. Great, now I was nervous _and_ irritated. 

We resumed walking, but now there was a tense silence between us.

* * *

We arrived at the socializing plaza but very few people were there. It was still early morning so we waited a bit. Nevertheless, even after almost two hours, the place was still empty. Tired of waiting and wanting to understand why nobody was here, I caught the attention of a guard and asked where anybody was.

He explained that since it was the first day nothing substantial would really happen today. The kings would have until 2 pm to arrive, then a refreshment would be served. In that time they could mingle and look around, but usually, the monarchs would stay all together to seize the others’ position. In the afternoon there would be the Pledge before the Empty Throne. By the time every king swore his alliance, it would be time for dinner. Thus there would a feast here in the plaza, at the end of which the president of this Reverie would make a speech and announce the topics of the meeting. The next day the discussions would start.

_So today is just for formalities. Ugh, I should have done some research. I don’t remember it being like this in the manga, there were only a handful of chapters tho. Is it because Oda was being mysterious and didn’t want to draw all the meeting or my information isn’t reliable? Oh God, I really could go without second-guessing my knowledge. Not here. Not now._

Seeing that I didn’t know much about the Reverie I asked how it is structured. Today was for ceremonies. Then there would be five days for the various rules to discuss the topics. If they couldn't come to an agreement, the seventh day the president would ask the Five Elders more time. (It happened only once 128 years ago because the Kranlogese king and the Doge of the Republic of Shevoy both claimed the right to sell the silver saffron. The Doge won and the Kranlog Kingdom still hates the Republic for it.)

If they reached a consensus, on the morning of the last day they would write and sign the treaty which contained the new laws. In the afternoon there would be another ceremony in which the president of the assembly would give the agreement to the Gorōsei. They would then apply the World Government seal on it and pass it to the Commander-in-Chief who would read it and solemnly swear to abide its laws. After that, the Marine Admiral would take it and store the treaty with the ones of the previous Reveries. In the end, there would be another feast and the next day everybody would go home. The first and the last days were the busiest, it was when the most important people would attend. Everyone who's someone would be there to gossip, speculate or simply be seen.

So, now I had a better idea of what was to happen. That still didn't help: I was still was in an empty plaza at 11 am. Therefore I had time to kill. A lot of it. I looked around, searching for something to do. Then I remembered that I thought about hanging out with the Five Elders. This was the perfect opportunity: they wouldn't be with Im since anyone could wander around. We don't want to reveal that the Empty Throne isn't so empty.

"I'm going to find the Gorōsei," I whispered into Marigold's ear.

"Huh?"

"I always wanted to befriend them. Nobody's here yet and I won't stick my nose where I'm not supposed to. It's the perfect time."

"Are you nuts? Why would you want to?" she hissed.

"Because my knowledge is fragmented and they are the most powerful people in the world. In case something happens they are the ones that decide the response of the World Government and the Marine. If I can get an in with them I could try to at least get information without the censorship or propaganda. Moreover, they wouldn't kill me. I'm a Celestial baby Dragon. I'll say that I was waiting for the envoys to arrive, but I got bored and wandered around. Today they won't do anything they don't want the world to know, so it's the safest time to try forming a connection. I don't know if the will be another chance until the next Reverie," I explained.

_Hopefully. If no one sneaks into the city to gossip and have tea with their enemies. Looking at you, Shanks._

"Alright, you got a point. But... Hey wait, where are you going? Come back!"

Not waiting for an answer I went straight to the double door of the castle. The girls were following me but they were stopped at the entrance. No slave was allowed inside. So, I parted with the Gorgons and L, telling them that I'll be back before the Pledge ceremony.

* * *

I was strolling in the castle. It was elegant and richly decorated even for Tenryūbito standards. The hallways were high and full of light with the ginormous windows. I idly wondered if they used a ladder or a climber harness to clean them and reach the highest point.

People were walking up and down the corridors all wearing pure white (with the sun and the big windows, they almost blinded me). Everybody was minding their business, not really paying attention to me. I didn’t have anything against that, on the contrary, it was refreshing to not be greeted with 'Saint Felicia' every two meters, but I wished to ask for directions. I wholeheartedly wanted to avoid certain places in this enormous palace, yet it didn’t seem appropriate to halt someone for help.

Thus, I just roamed around trying to find the Gorōsei but hoping to miss Im. Eventually, I was tired so I flopped face-first on a green couch, not really noticing which room I entered.

_This place is gigantic. I always knew that, it was huge even from home, but still how many rooms do you really need? I haven’t even found the Empty Throne, and that should be the most important place in the damned castle. Am I like Zoro or is it simply too big? If I continue to wander I’ll end up finding Im and I really don’t want that. Fuck it, I’m gonna ask for help._

The first person I found redirected me to the Sanctuary and told me how to get there. A man with lilac wavy hair, clearly fuming, was leaving the door I was searching for, stomping away. He had a red nose like he was drunk and very noticeable black eye bags like he hadn't slept in a week. I didn’t say hello and he didn’t greet me either.

I entered the room. The first thing I saw was a pond, where water lilies and lotus flowers of all different colors and sizes bloomed. I could see small multicolored fishes swimming between the leaves. On the left, there was a little waterfall and I heard the water gently rumbling. I also heard the croaks of frogs and saw one diving in the water. It was a serene and peaceful place.

On the other side of the small lake, there was a white gazebo. I could see five figures leaving it and coming towards me.

“Well, what do we have here? Hello, little one, did you get lost?” asked the one with the birthmark on his forehead. 

_Alright, girl now’s the time to act. Look adorable, pout cutely and stick as close to the truth as possible. You got this, Felicia._

“Hello, um, I’m Felicia of House Regulus, but everyone calls me Feli. I-I wanted to see the people coming for the Reverie, but I was too early. Then… then I remembered, um, that my teachers told me that here live special Celestial Dragons, so I thought of finding out who they were. Sorry for not asking permission,” I stuttered, looking down on my feet and wringing my hands. _Nailed it._

“It’s alright, child. Do your parents know you’re here?” asked this time the long-haired one.

I shook my head, trying to look like I was caught doing something I know I shouldn’t. 

“They think I’m with my slaves in the plaza, but it was boring there. Please don’t tell them I’m here,” I pleaded with my ultimate power, the puppy eyes.

“Very well, we won’t tell. Now have you eaten? Do you want to have lunch with us?”

I nodded and we walked away from the sanctuary. I internally debate if I could hold someone’s hand, but eventually thought that I didn’t want to push it.

We went to a dining room and sat at the table, chatting along the way. We talked about my studies, who’ll be at the Reverie, the sword that Tokitomo (the one in a kimono and with Shodai Kitetsu), how is it ranked and how to take care of it and so on and so forth. They recognized me as the girl that fell ill at her birthday party and the one that almost died a few months ago after eating a Devil Fruit. It wasn’t hard to feign embarrassment at that. Then they gave me a tour of the place (o _h, look, the Not-So-Empty Throne_ ) and illustrated the history of the castle. It was a bit of a dry subject, but there were enough sparkly things that I could simply focus on the shinies. They all gave off a grandfatherly vibe and certainly had the stereotypical 'back in my days' stories.

In the end, we were back at the entrance of the castle. I had stayed more than intended because there was someone, plainly not dressed as a Tenryūbito, being escorted inside. Thus, I said goodbye to them and trotted away. They sent me my way with candies. But then, before the Gorōsei could leave, I came back.

“Can I come back someday? ...Perhaps to see how you polish and sharpen Kitetsu?” I genuinely asked.

I wasn’t lying, I really wanted to return. Not only because of my plan but I also really enjoyed their company. Talking with them was educational and pleasant. They seemed such good people that I had to constantly remind myself of what they do. They smiled and agreed but only if I told my parents next time. 

* * *

Surprisingly, after I visited the Five Elders, I was more relaxed than this morning. Maybe it was the food, maybe it was the fact that I already spoke to dangerous people or maybe it was that said dangerous people seemed to sort of like me, so if Garp had the urge to punch me perhaps someone high up on the ladder won't be so happy about it.

The moment I stepped outside I was swarmed by the sisters. They were waiting me on the sidelines and considerably far away from the majority of people. Sandersonia hugged me so tight that I could breathe. Marigold was studying me, trying to silently find out if I was injured. Meanwhile, Hancock was asking a million questions without giving me time to answer.

L knew I was okay, our link was still there and I hadn’t taken it down since I formed it two days before. He was happily snoozing in the shade of the stairs to the entrance door.

I patted Sonny’s arm and she released me, then I described my visit to the castle. Eventually, I looked around at the Socializing Plaza. It was full of people of all shapes and sizes. King Neptune wasn’t here nor Otohime but I recognized a few: Walpole, Elizabello, Cobra, Riku and Judge. The first seemed to in the middle of being scolded by someone, that, by the resemblance, was probably his father. Judge was accompanied by Reiju and Riku was with Viola.

A group of marines was also there on the sidelines of the square. I couldn’t see if Garp was there, but it was the best place to start.

“Come on, girls. Let’s find me some hero,” I said, walking towards the marines.

“How do you wanna go about this? Will you reveal some secret knowledge that you shouldn’t know like with us?” asked the green-haired girl following behind me.

“Pft, absolutely not,” I snorted. _He’s too close to Luffy and too loyal to the marine._

I continued walking but then realized they weren’t following anymore. “What?”

“We can’t go,” said Mari.

“What? Why?”

“How are you going to explain how you know this stuff? You can’t just walk up to him and tell him that there’s a spy among the marines. He’ll have questions,” elaborated Hancock, looking at me like I was stupid. “It worked with us because we are slaves and we can’t trust anybody, so if you deny us answers, don’t think we didn’t notice your dodging and ignoring questions, it’ll be alright. But he’s Garp. He can ask other people, important people. And you just became all chummy with the Gorōsei, it’ll be a shame to waste that so soon.”

I blinked and then sighed. They were right. I needed an excuse for how I knew things. _Damn it, I didn’t think about it. I could say I picked up something from scanning people’s minds, but that won’t be believable if I haven’t been among strangers. I have to wait. Maybe I should talk to him on the last day. I doubt he’ll stay here the whole week, but if what the guards said is true, then he’ll be here the seventh day._

I didn’t know what to do. My primary motive to be at the Reverie was the Vice-Admiral and now I couldn’t talk to him. I also couldn’t leave. I told the Five Elders that I wanted to meet the many rulers gathered here and I didn’t want them to think I lied. I wanted to be seen as innocent and curious, lying wouldn’t help that.

"You're right, so now what?"

The Boa sisters shrugged and I turned to the mass of people gathered. I looked around trying to find something to do. I drifted through the crowd with L at my side not paying attention to where I was going. _I could go talk to Viola, but she’s a teenager and I don’t think she’ll want to spend time with a six-year-old. I could find Cobra and ask how old his daughter is, if Vivi is born._

My thoughts were interrupted by a pink shape colliding with me. I recoiled a few steps back and focused on who bumped me. Reiju. _Well, she’s not my first choice nor the second, or anywhere near my top ten really, but I can work with this._

The people surrounding us have gone completely silent. I could see Judge wide-eyed and white as a ghost. The girl in front of me looked like she knew she did something wrong but didn’t know how to fix it. _Right, I’m the scary Celestial Dragon that can call an Admiral all willy-nilly._

“Are you going to apologize soon or should I take a seat?” I said dryly, raising one eyebrow.

Judge raced to his daughter and, with a hand on her head, made her bow, then he also did. “My daughter is extremely sorry for her carelessness. Your Holiness can rest assured that she will be adequately punished for her mistake. If you could find in your most merciful heart some way that would make us earn your gracious forgiveness for this slight and accept our apologies we would be eternally grateful.”

_Wow, I never saw a man in his forties so apologetic. He’s really scared of me. Still, I can’t just brush this away, I have to portray the image of the scary Tenryūbito. Oh, I know what to do! Time to channel my inner spoiled brat._

“What’s your name?” I asked almost sneering at the pink girl.

“I’m Reiju, Holy One,” she answered still bent and looking at the ground.

“I am merciful but you _did_ bump a god... Oh, I know!” I said cheerfully. “I don’t want to kill you, it’s not nice to make a mess right in front of the castle. So, you are going to stay with me for the rest of the Reverie. You are going to obey my orders and if at the end of the week you served me well, I'll let you go.”

The Vinsmokes and the people listening all praised my clemency and thoughtfulness. _What a bunch of ass-lickers. Well, the important thing is that I’m still seen as a proper Celestial Dragon. But now I have Reiju tailing me. Great, I should have thought this more through. At least it’s her and not the other three Power Rangers. Oh well, I’ll be stuck with Reiju for a week and then I’ll give her back. Like there was a doubt of that, I’m not letting Sanji rot in that cell._

After everything was settled, I turned around and resumed my wandering with the new addition behind. The Gorgons were silently asking me what was I doing and I simply gestured I would explain later without letting our own Sakura see. We walked aimlessly for a while then I saw a giant duck among the crowd. I stopped and stared at it. _Why did someone dress a white Chocobo up? I didn’t know they existed here. Oh please, don’t tell me I was reborn in a crossover. One Piece is crazy enough alone, I don’t need to worry about in which Final Fantasy I am._

Reiju must have noticed where my focus was because she asked: “Do you want to talk to Morgans, Your Holiness?”

I shifted my gaze between her and the journalist a few times. I only had one thought in mind: _An Emperor of the Underworld looks like a video game's chicken mount._

I shook my head and started snickering. Then my giggles turned in a full belly laugh. It wasn’t that funny but all the nerves and frustration that I had piled up today made the situation more amusing. Of course, Morgans would be here and I would mistake him for a Chocobo.

I took a deep breath and shook my head, composing myself. _Alright, Felicia, focus. Now’s not the time to lose your sanity. Morgans can be useful but it’s the same thing as Garp: you can’t just waltz there with no plan. I’ll leave him for the last day too. Right, so I guess I’ll spend the rest of the day making sure I don’t need to talk to anybody else. And here sweet, darling, fuchsia Reiju comes in to play._

I turned my attention towards the Germa princess and gestured her to follow me with a grin. We retreated into a less crowded space, sat on a bench and I asked: “Tell me who came to the Reverie. Leave no one out. I want to know of everybody, from king to marine.”

She nodded and started to list the people gathered. We stayed there until sunset and other than the overgrown pigeon nobody caught my interest, fortunately. If not, I didn’t know if I had the time to have a chat on the last day.

Then, since I couldn’t act on my plans, I just let her go and ordered her to come to the Celestial Dragon Gate every morning at 10 am. Knowing someone of the outside world that I haven’t threaten or isn’t an Emperor of the Underworld seemed a smart move. If I could I wanted to become her friend, from what I remember she was cool and more humane than her male family members. Excluding Sanji, of course. She wasn't on the top of my list of possible penpals but eh, beggars can’t be choosers. (Ah, beggars! Hilarious coming from me.)

Finally, I retired. I couldn’t do anything there and I needed to think about what to say to Morgans. I returned home and said goodnight to my three slaves. I had dinner with my family, that wanted to know why I spent all day out. My parents were quite happy that I got to know the Gorosei and that I got invited there again.

Then I went to sleep, in part relieved that the day was over and in part frustrated that I hadn’t achieved what that morning I was set to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading!
> 
> The title of this chapter is my attempt at being clever with words, ignore me.
> 
> No Vivi here, sorry. In my defense, she's two years old at the moment, so I couldn't do much with her. Also, Reiju wasn't planned but then I thought who would be at the Reverie and she seemed the most likely one to befriend. So here we are.
> 
> Also, I've started my exams so I don't have that much time to write. I still have a month worth of chapters but then that's it. I probably shouldn't have started watching Critical Role or writing another story right now, but I have very little impulse control.😅
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: A Seagull and the Monkey.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	8. A Seagull and the Monkey

I spent all the five days of the meeting pondering on what to say to Morgans. In the end, I had a rough idea, but I was going to wing it a bit, pun unintended. Strangely I wasn’t so scared to talk to the overgrown chicken. Being part of the Underworld, being one that runs a major part of it, I imagined he would try to use me and not pimp slap me to death like, say, a Vice-Admiral would do.

I also thought about a pseudonym to keep my identity safe with Morgans, the fact that I wasn't so scared of him didn't mean that I wasn't going to be a bit careful. He _was_ an Emperor of the Underworld. The pseudonym was taken from my third name Ambrosia, but hopefully, he would connect it to the Amber Lead. I felt quite clever about that.

In those five days, I also spent a good chunk of time with Reiju. She was delightful and so refreshing to be around. I liked her because with the pink-haired girl I could talk and talk and talk all day long. The first days I told myself to just go there, spend an hour with her and then return home only for then realize it was almost evening and we were still talking. I did, in fact, find out that yes, Darosian shepherds _were_ used in a division of the Germa army. However, those were usually _special_ (read: genetically modified) Darosian shepherds. That wasn’t shocker and I probably should have realized it on my own. If Judge experimented on his unborn children, of course, he would have done it on dogs too.

She was different from the other people around me. She got me.

My parents were always willing to talk but they treated me like a child, which was fair: I was six years old in their eyes and in the body. And when together they usually gave each other bedroom eyes and I didn’t want to witness that, they were still my parents for Pete’s sake.

Cas spent his time running, jumping, moving and generally not staying put. I didn’t have that much energy.

On the contrary, Leo plopped himself on a chair with a game or a book and nothing would make him stand up if he didn’t want to.

The Boa sisters were usually okay, but sometimes they retreated in their little bubble. I didn’t want to intrude. First, because they were family and I wasn't, second because of the age difference, them being teenagers and I a kid, and third because even if I treated them well they were still my slaves and I didn’t want them to open up to me only because they were forced.

Koala was a child. An abused and beaten child. I was just happy that she didn’t flinch every time she saw me anymore.

The maid, butlers and guards either had their spirit broken or they treated me like a god. Not a good base to start any kind of meaningful interaction.

And L was a dog.

Reiju was different, _felt_ different.

We spent our mornings together strolling the gardens of Pangea castle, often stopping and sitting on a bench to discuss this or that. Our conversation varied from history, science, books, food, fashion, music, films and much more. It was like being back in my previous life with my friends. I missed them so much and missed the conversations I had with them even more. It was like when you don’t eat for a long time and you forget you’re hungry, but then you start eating and you realize you are starving.

I also thought that she liked my presence. Gradually she appeared less and less tense during our time together. The last two days were absolutely awesome. I usually had to coax her answers, instead, when she finally relaxed, she immediately started rambling, continuing from the discussion we had the day before. I was elated and happily babbled back.

  
  


Today was the seventh day of the Reverie. I was nervous, excited, scared and a little bit saddened. I spent my morning with Reiju as usual. I told her that after today’s feast she was free to do whatever she wanted and asked ~~pleaded~~ her to be my friend. She accepted happily (it didn't seem forced) and that calmed me a bit. So I went to the ceremony more relaxed.

The function was boring, to put it mildly. A bunch of old men gave another bunch of old men a stack of papers only to read a bunch of laws and rules that I really wasn’t obligated to follow and that were just a giant complex farce to keep everyone quiet and happy.

While they were doing all the formal procedure I looked around trying to find my two targets. Garp was easy to spot. He was on the elevated platform with the other important people, near enough to seem like he participated but far enough to do nothing but stand there and look engaged.

Morgans was more difficult to locate, but the fact that he was a giant bird helped. He was on the stands, almost at the center of the third row. I didn’t know how to get to him and the ceremony didn’t seem to end. That gave me an idea. _Perhaps I could…? He’ll quickly find out who I am, but maybe he won’t know how I look like. A bit more protection is always good. Let’s try then._

I closed my eyes and scanned the crowd. Fun fact that I learned when I started trying to sense people: everybody felt different. People, animals and Devil Fruit users had their own unique flavor, for a lack of a better word. Obviously, all humans had a certain feeling, as each species had its own. Devil Fruit users felt human but also _more_.

So it was kind of easy to find the right mind. He felt human, bird, sea air, smoke and _more_. I opened my eyes looking, but not really watching, the stage and smiled. _Hello, Morgans._

I felt his surprise and wariness. He was looking around trying to find me.

_Relax, I’m using telepathy. I just wanted to talk to you without attracting attention. You can respond, You just need to think and I’ll hear._

_Who are you? What do you want?_ He asked defensively.

_If I wanted you to know who I am I wouldn’t have used telepathy. And as for the second question: I want to be friends, of course._ I thought cheerfully.

I felt his annoyance increase and so I quickly continued.  _Listen, you are one of the Emperors of the Underworld. I want us to get along and work together occasionally. You scratch my back and I stroke your feathers. Telepathy is good for information gathering._

He paused for a moment but then responded still with a wary tone.  _Alright, I’m intrigued. Prove it._

_The Amber Lead syndrome. World Government and the royal family of Flavence knew that Amber Lead was poisonous for centuries, but didn’t say anything so they could profit._

_That’s nice but useless. Besides, how can I be sure it’s the truth?_

_Well, what do you want me to do to convince you?_ I asked irked.

He paused for a bit and a stream of thoughts flew in his mind. It was too fast and I wasn’t able to catch anything comprehensible.

After a while, he said:  _Tell me how the king of the Lyarne Archipelago wants to manage the rebellions in the islands of Rual and Gohs._

_Who?_

_The king of the Lyarne Archipelago. Tall, black hair, tattooed left arm and looks constipated. He sits in the sixth row from the stage._

I ended our connection and searched for the guy. Luckily I sat in the last row, so I didn’t need to turn myself and give away that I wasn’t listening.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my pond. I found the guy, but I didn’t want to be caught mentally snooping. So I contemplated how to find out what I needed without being detected. Usually, I visualized my hand touching the surface but that alerted the other of my presence. _Perhaps if I visualized a tablet? No, that would mean touching the water. A computer then, with the mouse and keyboard out._

I tried and it worked. At one point I almost felt like he caught me but swiftly calmed myself and regained control. Then I quickly left his mind. The only way I can describe that man was: _ew_. Even if I wasn’t really six years old, the things I saw in his head were traumatizing.

I reestablished my link with the seagull. _He intends to ask the World Government for a Cypher Pol unit. He aiming for n.5 or n.6 but he’ll be happy with anything above n.3. If that doesn’t work, he’ll ask your pals, Du Feld for a loan and Gibberson for weapons, hire some mercenaries and slaughter the rebels while selling the civilians to brothels or auction houses._

_Uhm, yes, I suspected that, it confirmes my other sources,_ he mumbled to himself.  _Is that disgust that I feel? You don’t like brothels? Or Auction houses?_

_Both. Especially, when they are caused by slavery,_ I thought irritated.  _And that’s not the point. Are you happy or do I need to wade through another morally corrupted and perverted ruler's mind?_

_My, my, how testy we are_ _,_ he teased.  _But I suppose we can keep in touch. As you said, telepathy is good for information gathering._

I was second away to trying to cause him a mini heart attack. Nothing fatal, just enough to spook him. Alas, my control prevailed so instead I started asking questions.  _Call me Amber. What do you know about the Donquixote family? The mob family I mean._

He started giving me general information about Donflamingo and his organization. Nothing really juicy but combined with the otherworldly knowledge I had, it was a good start. Then I ended our link.

So now I was angry. And repulsed. I felt like I needed to take a scalding hot shower. I needed to calm down and regain all of my wits before talking to the Vice-Admiral. I looked at the stage and noticed that they were at the end: Sengoku was taking the treaty from Kong. He put it in a very decorated box and locked it. Now the Five Elders would thank everybody for showing up and begin the banquet.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Instead of immediately going to Garp, I took some time to wander through the castle grounds. The amazons were following me perplexed.

“What’s going on? Didn’t you want to talk to the Marine Hero?” asked Sandersonia.

“I telepathically talked to a jerk that made me enter the mind of a pervert. I need time to forget what I saw,” I quickly answered rubbing my face.

“What?! When? With who?” exclaimed Mari, concerned.

“During the ceremony. I saw someone interesting and seized the moment. You know, carpe diem," I cut short, not intending to explain further.

I hastened my pace, leaving them behind. L was trotting behind me and, sensing my distress, made me sit on a bench. He then climbed on my lap and demanded cuddles. I indulged him and spent a while there admiring the scenery.

I leaned back, tilted my head up and exhaled. I closed my eyes and entered my apartment. I went straight to the library. On the desk, there was the book of today. The words were appearing directly on the pages. I turned back a few and found the passages about the mind of the king of the Lyarne Archipelago.

I wanted to erase that memory, therefore I conjured an eraser and tried to cancel the words. It didn’t work: the memory was faded but still there. I could still see the tools, the blood. So I transformed the eraser into black ducktape and covered that section. It was now suppressed. I knew that if I wanted I could let the memory reemerge, but I wasn’t going to.

I returned to reality, more relaxed than before. I smiled down on L, who was snoozing peacefully. The Boa sisters had joined me on the bench. We enjoyed the scenery and peace together for a while. White, red and blue cyclamens were in bloom as well as various chrysanthemums. It was so serene and quiet. I called a guard over and instructed him to go fetch some paper and then started writing down everything I had about the ex Celestial Dragon.

Eventually, we returned back. The banquet was in full swing: people were dancing, eating and generally parting. I noted that the Five Elders were gone but I couldn’t find Garp. _Think, Felicia. If you were a narcoleptic, happy-go-lucky and overpowered bottomless hole, where would you be?_

The answer was the buffet, of course. So I steeled myself, took a deep breath and told the sisters to get ready. Marigold and Sandersonia took their naga form, it wasn’t as big as the one portrayed in the series, but still imposing enough. Meanwhile, I instructed them on what we’ll do.

We marched up to the buffet and to the Hero. He was seated by the buffet table with one hand full of donuts and the other holding a fork full of spaghetti, surrounded by empty platters. Waiters were carrying plates full of more food and they returned back with piles of empty dishes.

I made Mari drag one chair and I sat in front of him in equal part disgusted and awed at the scene. The two Zoan users were on my sides a bit behind me and Hancock was on my right. I ordered L to lie under me facing away from the table, so if needed he would be able to escape unhindered.

Garp didn’t seem to notice me, so I cleared my throat and asked, with fake confidence: “Can I have a donut?”

The Vice-Admiral eyed me, still chewing the spaghettis, then shrugged and extended his left hand. Hancock took one of the pastries but, before she could give it to me, she activated her power and stoned it. 

“Ops. It seems my slave is still unable to control her devil fruit.”

“Tough luck, kid,” he mumbled between another forkful of pasta. “I’m not giving you another one.”

“That’s alright. I didn’t really want it, I just wanted to talk to you. You are Garp the Fist, right?”

He nodded, not looking at me but still chewing.

“Oh, I’m so happy I found you! I heard so much about you. Is it true that you were the one that captured the King of the Pirates without a Devil Fruit?” I gushed.

He nodded again, but I felt like he was starting to ignore me. So I made my move.

“You know, I am a Devil Fruit user too. A bit unusual for a Celestial Dragon, I know, but it was an accident. Here, let me show you what I can do.”

“Hold on, kid. Don…”

I didn’t bother listening and formed a link between us. _Holy moley, what kind of mind is this? If feels like there’s a brick wall between us._

_Yeah, great. Now that I saw what you can do, can I return to my dinner?_ he said, irritated. 

_Nope, sorry,_ I responded.  _I need to speak to you and this is the best way to do it undisturbed or without nosy people eavesdropping._

I felt his exasperation and took it as permission to go on. He didn’t feel angry, perhaps I didn’t need to threaten him.  _So. Let’s talk about Sengoku’s adopted son._

As I imagined he was curious, so I continued.  _Rosinante is undercover in a mob family, which is lead by his brother. He was the best person to send, not only because of his Fruit, but he also knows the leader and what he went through._

_Get to the point, shrimp._

_Well, the thing is, there’s a mole in the marines. If, when, the spy finds out that Rosinante is a double agent, Sengoku’s kid will die. I know who the mole is and I’ll give you the name, so you can punch the guy before he gets Rosinante killed._

_And how do you know this?_ he said diffidently.

_I read minds. And I have talked to an underworld emperor._

Garp snorted but seemed convinced. He stopped stuffing his face and stared at me.  _Alright, kid, I'll bite. Who’s the guy?_

_His name is Vergo, but in the Donquixote family, he was called Corazón._ There I felt his disinterest and was perplexed. He resumed eating.

_Yeah right, there’s no one with that name in the marines. Can I go back to eating in peace now?_

My mind came to a halt. Vergo hadn’t joined the marines yet. My thoughts were racing, trying to find a way to convince him that the sticky bastard would enlist. In a desperate attempt, I tried using my trump card.

_Gol D. Ace._

_Now_ I had his complete attention. Until I mentioned his adopted grandson, he had been indulging me, but I quickly felt him becoming watchful and impatient. The Gorgons squirmed under his stare and it took everything to stop me from doing it too. 

_Talk, kid. And do it fast_ _,_ he simply said in a very serious, angry tone. I felt a pressure paralyzing me and keeping me still on the chair. My slaves also felt it, I could see the amazons slightly hunch over. L was softly whining and becoming agitated. He certainly had Emperor's Haki, nothing would convince me otherwise. It was like we were in a really oppressive bubble. The world around us was still moving but it could have crumbled away and we wouldn’t have noticed.

_You’ll look out for Vergo and I won't tell the Gorōsei whose kid you have adopted._

He didn’t respond immediately. He ruminated a bit, but I couldn’t see what he was thinking. The wall between us was preventing me from reading his mind clearly.  _And how can I know that you'll hold your part of the deal?_

_You'll know because I'm still here talking to you. You'll know because no CP agent will come barging into your office and demand you hand Ace over. You’ll know because there'll be no Buster Call on Dawn Island,_ I answered trying to let him feel that I was being honest through the link. Damn it, I liked Garp, he was one of the coolest and most badass characters. I didn't want to threaten him.  _Please, Garp, I'm only saying that if someone with the name Vergo joins the marines, you should keep an eye on him. Do you really want Sengoku's adopted son to die? He is your best friend, do it for him._

After a very tense pause where the pressure of his will didn't stop, he asked, this time curious instead of angry.  _Why won't you reveal my secret?_

_Because the sins of the parent shouldn't be the sins of the son. Because I hate slavery and the Donquixote family deals with slaves. Because Rosinante is a good marine, one of the few that aren't corrupted, and l don't want to see him die._

The celebration was still going on around us but there was a tense silence between me and the Vice-Admiral. I wanted to shift my gaze but I was afraid that if I did he would take it as a sign of dishonesty and become violent.

_Alright, kid. I'll be on guard,_ he thought, at last, appeased. The pressure disappeared and the Gorgons and I took a much-needed breath. Then with confusion lacing his tone asked,  _You hate slavery yet have slaves?_

I took one of the memories of the time I played with the Boa sisters, put it on a display and transferred it to him.  _It's safer this way and they are treated well._

"Bwahahaha!"

I severed our connection. _Oh, so people here do have their special laugh. I wonder what mine sounds like._

The Gorgons, hearing him laugh, were confused but they remained tensed and wary. When he finished laughing he stared at us with a grin.

"I like you, kid. You are a weird Tenryūbito. Was that an attempt to scare me? You really thought that four girls and a puppy would?"

"L is very scary," I shrugged a bit flustered. I took out the papers where I wrote down all the information I had and handed them over. He took them and pocketed them.

"Pft, yeah, sure. Now scram, pipsqueak. I want to end my dinner in peace."

"Oh, one last thing," I said standing up.

He raised one of his eyebrows.

"Teach your grandkids Haki instead of just tossing them into the wilderness. If I was able to find out then someone else will. There are dark pirates that would do anything to get more power. Even sell children out to die."

He frowned. "Dark pirates?"

I shrugged. “Just food for thought.”

Finally, I left the table. I started walking back home, without saying goodbye to Reiju. Every part of me screamed to run as fast as I could, to get away from the monster I just poked but everybody knows you don’t run from bears. Well, monkey in my case.

I was dead tired, I needed a shower and sleep. It had been a long day. When I arrived home I was shaking. During my return, my mind conjured up every possible way it could have gone bad. All the ‘what ifs’ clouded my mind. I didn’t even register the Boa sisters leaving me and going back to the garden house. I was shocked.

That night it took me a while to fall asleep. I couldn’t believe I did all that.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading!
> 
> Fun fact that nobody cares about, the title of this chapter is inspired by the name of this book that I really liked as a child: "The Story of A Seagull and The Cat Who Taught Her To Fly" by Luis Sepúlveda.  
> The plot of the story has nothing to do with the content of the chapter. I really recommend the book (or the movie they made from it), it's all about found family and the struggles of a single parent raising a child that's completely different from him.
> 
> I always shortened it to "A Seagul and the Cat", so when I was thinking about how to title the chapter, and knowing that Morgans fruit is a seagull zoan, I couldn't use anything else.😻
> 
> Also, according to the timeline that I'm using (https://thelibraryofohara.com/the-one-piece-timeline/), Vergo entered the Marines in 1509 but this Reverie happened in 1508. So it came down to threats.
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: What's Left Behind.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	9. What's Left Behind

The next day I woke up late. I wasn’t bothered by it, the previous day was eventful, so it was fine. I did have a couple of things to do that in the last months I left behind for one reason or another. (Learning Haki, the weird thing that happened when I ate my Devil Fruit, expanding the range of my powers, forming and differentiating two links at the same time...) But not today. Today I was going to relax. So I spent my morning playing with L and my slaves in the garden house. During the evening I had my usual lessons and before dinner, I exercised as it was now my routine.

In the following months, I continued practicing my power with various degrees of success.

I tried to increase my range, pushing the ripples out of the lake. It was tiring but I could feel my field expanding, even if only the tiniest bit. I needed to do it every day for it to work so I decided to train it every night before falling asleep.

The double link was a little more difficult. At first, I was stumped but then I found a solution. Kinda. It came when I explained in frustration the problem to Marigold (and thanks to Naruto). In my mind space, I imagined a copy of me and we would both touch one mind each. It felt weird and a little difficult, like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. It became more difficult the more people were added and if I focused too much on one connection I lost the other. I still needed to work on it, but it worked.

On the contrary, I couldn’t repeat the blast that I apparently created when I ate the apple. No matter how much I tried or what I did, nothing happened. It was puzzling and frustrating. Mostly frustrating. Usually, when I tried I spent half an hour staring at a feather (starting small seemed a good idea), I always ended storming away and huffing, barely keeping myself from screaming. Koala was still a little skittish.

In regards to Haki, initially, I wanted to ask my dad to find me a teacher, but since I found a book on it in the library I thought I could try that first. The instructions were simple enough and there were various methods on how to unlock it. I also roped the Gorgons to join me. I started with Observation, it was the easiest. Sort of. We practiced by playing Hide and Seek blindfolded. It was slowly working, sometimes if I concentrated enough I could feel other people around me even without my power (which was the hardest part: shut out my mind perception) and we did accumulate various bumps and bruises. At least Koala sounded amused when we stumbled or tripped.

For Armament I had to try to crush rocks with my bare hand. It was more difficult and I usually ended with cramps in my hand, but slowly I could see the stone beginning to have my handprint.

Emperor was confusing, to say the least. The book said that it was something you couldn’t train but only find within yourself. You had to will it out and direct it to others. So I couldn’t exactly practice it. If I did the only thing that happened was my power activating. I wasn’t particularly upset about it. I was fine without Haoshoku.

Thus a new year came, with still no Fisher Tiger in sight. I was beyond frustrated. I was mad. _The fuck is he doing?! It’s been almost two years. Where is he? What could possibly be more important than freeing slaves and insulting the World Government?_

I was in the garden house preparing for my kanji test, which was going to be that afternoon. My slaves noticed my anger and decided to leave me alone. Smart girls. I had a dictionary and my notes opened before me but my mind was clearly somewhere else. Not that I really needed to review stuff (again thanks, Devil Fruit) but it was better than scowling at the walls. It looked less crazy at least.

Eventually, I gave up my 'studying' and decided to go to Koala and L, they were the best at distracting and calming me. I found them in the backyard of the house. She was in front of the puppy with a treat in her little hand.

“Hi, Koala, how is L’s training coming along?” I said, waving my hand. “Did he learn any new tricks?”

She slightly jolted, but hearing my voice she turned and smiled at me.

“Hello, yes, Sai… Felicia,” she recovered, seeing my disapproving look when she tried to call me saint. “We are working on play dead. He still needs to practice. I apologize for not being able to teach him in time for your visit. I promise it won’t happen again, he’ll be perfectly trained next time.”

I could see she became more nervous the longer she talked. Koala still had to get to know me and the months I spent grounded and away from them didn’t help. I made a mental note to come and play with her more often.

“Hey, it’s fine,” I reassured her. “These things take time. I’m sure both of you are doing your best, don’t worry about it.”

She nodded and her shoulders relaxed.

“Why don’t you show me everything that L learned from you, mhm?”

I watched their performance and I could feel the irritation of before slowly wash away. Even if she was only a child, Koala was good. Her instructions were clear and she didn’t hesitate with her words.

“Good job!” I exclaimed at the end. “You really are a wonderful dog trainer, Koala.”

“Thank you, my lady,” she shyly answered.

I mentally sighed. At least it wasn’t saint. _She still isn’t completely comfortable with me. How can I make her like me? Ugh, I was never good with kids._

“Sooo, how are your studies? You know that if you need help you can always come and ask me, right?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry, Felicia. Marigold is a very good teacher. Geometry and History are boring and a bit hard but both Sandersonia and Hancock always help me do my homework.”

I nodded along, happy to hear that her education was coming along nicely.

“Yes, I also don’t like History,” I agreed. “Do you need anything? If you want something you just have to ask.”

“My lady, please!” she protested, resolute. “I’m okay. More than that. You gave me tasty food, a soft bed and didn’t make me work. You are the best owner I could ever have. I couldn’t ask for more.”

“I’m glad you think that,” I sighed, not feeling even a little comforted by her words. “But you know that this isn’t right, do you? Those things should be available to everyone and owning people is wrong.”

“You are a Celestial Dragon, a god among humans. Even if it’s wrong, you are above that.”

I tightened my jaw, angry and frustrated again. She said that as if to say the sky is blue. I put my hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

“I’m not a god,” I firmly said. “This system will be taken down. Soon someone will come here and free all of you, there would be no more slaves. And then later the pirates and the revolutionary will destroy the World Government. Things will change.”

“Of course, Felicia.”

I blinked weirded out by her utter trust and I withdrew my hands.

“Aren’t you wondering how I know things? Why are you accepting it so well?”

“You knew what Hancock would be able to do even before she ate the Fruit. And I heard Marigold and Sandersonia say that you also knew their powers even before they themselves knew,” she answered. “It’s a sign that you really are a god.”

I exhaled and rubbed my face. _Goddamnit, that’s not what I wanted. How do I fix this?_

“Koala, I make mistakes. I’m not all-powerful. So I’m not a god.”

That stumped her and I decided to change the subject less we continued to talk circles around it. I couldn’t simply tell her to stop believing it, she had to realize it herself.

“Come on, Koala, let’s go find the others. I’m sure they’ll also like to see the progress you and L made.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


_Come on, Felicia. It’s been a year since the Devil Fruit accident and you have behaved like the perfect daughter. They won’t deny you, so stop being a chicken._

I was with my family. We just finished eating dinner and we were waiting for the dessert. A few days ago I remembered that I wanted to go out and get to know other World Nobles. Between the Mind-Mind Fruit, the Reverie and my studies I completely forgot about it, but then a letter from Reiju, my very best (only) penpal, reminded me that yes, there _is_ a world outside my house’s walls.

Thus, I was here. At dinner. Gathering the courage to ask to go see the city. I knew that my parents wouldn’t let me leave Mary Geoise alone, they didn’t even permit my brothers to go out alone so the thought they would allow me was ridiculous.

The butlers arrived with a sweet cart and we all choose our cake. Cas took half of the cakes for himself, of course. Dad noticed me poking my slice. “Something bothering you, dear?”

I was slightly startled but swiftly proceeded with my plan. “Nothing, just… Can I go outside?”

He blinked, confused, but still answered: “Now? If you aren’t hungry anymore, sure.”

“No, I mean I want to have friends.”

“Aw, Feli,” protested Leo, faking being hurt. “What are we, chopped liver?”

“You are my brothers,” I said dryly. “I want girl friends.”

“Didn’t you make friends with that girl from the Reverie?” chimed in mom.

“Yes. But she isn’t a Celestial Dragon,” I insisted. _Stop asking me questions and let me go befriend other Tenryūbito._

Then I continued, more gently: “Perhaps Leo and I can go visit Samael? He seemed nice…”

“No,” quickly answered my younger older brother.

“But…”

“No.”

I huffed and rolled my eyes. I knew it was a lost cause, that was the same tone that Leo used when he was asked to play with us while he was having his alone time.

So I continued poking my cake. Between the hunt for the charms and the realization, I didn’t make any friends during my debut in society. So I was stumped.

“Well, if you want to go make friends,” started dad. “ Three days ago I received an invite for the debut of Saint Maeve’s daughter. The party is in four days.”

I eagerly nodded. My parents chuckled and mom told me that we would have to start to prepare for the party immediately. That meant I had to spend the following days with her, but that was okay: I now had an in.

Mission ‘Befriend the Enemy’ was a go.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The days leading to the party were a frenzy. Mother spent the first two selecting and preparing the dresses for all of us, the remaining two were focused on accessories, hairstyles and choose the perfect gift. We ‘helped’ her, obviously, which meant following her around and nodding or shaking our head at the right time. It was a really important job because if you didn’t give a swift response you had to suffer the whole process from the beginning again. Leo once didn’t nod, all focused on one of his books, and mom decided that instead of the orange suit, the one with green squares was better and so she had to change every other decision previously made. Leo tried to assure her that orange was fine, but she was immovable and my brother’s torture started all over again. 

Meanwhile, I was also occupied. I had to make friends, yes, but I had to make the _right_ friends. Oda didn’t name many World Nobles, but I had to make sure that I would at least be near those mentioned and able to influence them. _Well, except Roswald and Charlos. Fuck Roswald and Charlos._

Thus I had two targets: Mjosgard and anyone from Saint Jalmack’s family. The first one because of Otohime. Also, having someone with common sense around would be nice, even if it took a bit more time to get it. The second because of Sabo. I wasn’t going to let Luffy and Ace mourn their amnesic brother, so I needed to be invited to go to Goa.

Finally, we were at the party. Dad received the token (a brooch this time) from one of the butlers and then he let us go mingle. The majority of the guests were already there. The room was smaller than I had imagined but it was connected to a large terrace that gave on the garden by a staircase on the left side.

Curious, I went to the patio to get a better look. It was beautiful: the sun had just set and dozens of colorful lanterns illuminated the field.

For a while, I simply enjoyed the view then I spotted a familiar bald head: Gungheimr. I quickly descended the stair to the garden and trotted to him. He was strolling around, sipping from a large glass of wine from time to time.

“Good evening, Saint Gungheimr. I’m sorry for disturbing you, but I was searching for Mjosgard, do you know where he is?”

He stared at me a bit perplexed.

“Where did I see… Oh, right you are the one that fell ill at her debut.”

I grimaced but confirmed it, a little embarrassed. _Is everyone gonna know me as the one that had a panic attack at her party?_

“You are looking for my son? He’s at the center of the green maze, where the fountain is. He wanted to show his pets’ tricks,” he informed me.

I thanked him and entered the labyrinth. Soon I was at the center and there he stood. He was barking orders at an old looking merman, trashing his whip around. On his left, there was a fishman, kneeling and grinding his teeth. I couldn’t hear him, partially because of the distance and partially because of his lowered head, but I could swear he was cursing my fellow World Noble.

“Woah, there. If you continue to lash that thing around you’ll hit someone, or even yourself,” I said, getting near them.

He was startled and whirled around facing me.

“Hi, I’m Felicia.”

He also looked at me puzzled then he recognized me. “Oh, you are the one that got sick on her birthday. Hello, I’m Mjosgard.”

“Yeah, that one. So... what are you doing here?” I sighed. _So it’s going to be a thing. Great._

“Nothing much,” he shrugged. “My pet here can use a form of martial art that can manipulate water. I thought I could make him show some tricks with the water as a gift for Amare.”

“Who?”

“Saint Maeve’s daughter.”

I nodded, understanding. Then Mjosgard went back shouting orders at the slave. He raised his whip about to strike, but I halted him again, not wanting to see him beat the poor merman. “Wait! Let me try it."

He hesitated a moment but then stepped aside. Myosgard also offered me his crop, but I shook it away. I lowered myself to the merman's level and whispered into his ear.

"Shyarly predicted a huge slave breakout soon. Bear with it for a little longer, save your strength and keep a low profile."

I straightened back. The merman was staring into my eyes, scared and confused. I could also feel the kneeling fishman glaring holes into my head and I telepathically repeated the message to him. 

"Come on," I intimated with my best Spoiled Brat™ voice. "Start doing something or those won't be just words."

_Play along or he will really whip you._

The merman faltered a little but then five little water pillars rose and started going in circles. Then, still circling, they tilted towards the center, where they all came together and several arches appeared, returning the water to the pool.

Mjosgard and I applauded and I said, still in my Tenryūbito mode: "See, was that so hard?"

The merman blinked and didn't answer. Myosgard, instead, immediately bombarded me with questions.

"Hey, slow down," I said raising my hands while standing up. "One question at the time, I can't understand you."

"How did you do it? I've been trying to make him do it for half an hour and it took you less than a minute."

"Guess I just know what to say. You could call me the Slave Whisperer." 

"Yes, but what did you say to him? Does it work on every pet?"

"Well, it depends. You just have to understand them," I bullshitted. _Man, I'm becoming good at lying._

"How do you do that?" He insisted.

"I don't know. You just… observe them."

Thus, Mjosgard stared at his slaves. They squirmed under his gaze and shifted their eyes between me and him multiple times.

“W-what are you doing?” I asked puzzled.

“Observing them.”

“No. That’s... No.”

I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. An idea formed into my mind. “Hey, if you want, I can teach you.”

He nodded earnestly. Mjosgard then grabbed my hand and dragged me back to the party saying that we should return to the ballroom and that it was probably time Amare came out. I let him, to occupied being giddy that I finally had a connection outside of my home.

Before Mjosgard yanked me completely away from the fountain I managed to send a last message to the slaves:  _Spread the voice. But be careful, DON’T get caught._

  
  


* * *

  
  


The feast was now at full swing. People were dancing drinking and having fun. Mjosgard let me go as soon as we arrived and disappeared in the throng of people even before I could utter a word. So I just stood there, looking around trying to spot a familiar face. Having no luck I decided to simply go to the buffet where I knew that Cas was. I found him exactly there, gorging himself on the various delicacies as if he hasn’t eaten for a week. Miraculously he noticed me and, offering a cookie, asked me if I made some friends.

“Kinda. I met this guy and promised him I‘ll teach him how I discipline my pets.”

“Who?” He managed to say even with his mouth full.

“Mjosgard Donquixote.”

He frowned, swallowed and then asked perplexed. “Isn’t he older than us?”

“Yep.”

“And didn’t you want girl friends?”

“Yep.”

“...Okay then.” Cas blinked a few times but, seeing that I wasn’t going to elaborate, he returned to stuffing his face.

I browsed the selection of sweets then taking two plates I started loading them with every bite-sized pastry possible. I then asked my eldest brother where Leo was. Cas pointed me the way with a grin and a strange glint in his eyes. I left in search of my second brother and found him talking with someone, who seemed familiar but I could only see the back of his head. Leo, instead, was facing me and when he saw me, he snatched the guy’s elbow and hauled him away.

I followed them, wondering why my sweet brother was avoiding me. A quick scan of his mind answered my question: Samael. Apparently Leo was the protective type (strange considering he was the laid back twin) and after Samael’s comment at my debut, he seemed dead set on keeping us separated. I giggled and started pursuing them with greater intent.

I was too focused on my chase that I bumped into someone. I was able to hold the plates, and the mountains of sweets on them, from falling, even if they wobbled a little. I looked down and saw a girl wearing the usual kimono-spacesuit with a sash on it. She had a lovely milk chocolate skin tone, with curly dark brown hair (that in the ridiculous updo resembled more a mushroom than the usual wave) and the biggest blackest eyes. On the sash, there were a few pins.

She looked up at me and we stared at each other for a minute. Then her eyes started to shine and she sniffed. Panicking about the almost crying child (and not wanting to be the cause of scene at another debut party), I hunched down to her level and shoved one plate under her nose.

“Sorry. Uhm, here.”

She blinked a few times, confused at my response to her tears, but accepted the plate. She tried one of the pastries and then started eating one after the other, her fall was forgotten. Happy that I didn’t make the child cry, I sat down next to her.

“So… My name is Felicia. You are Amare, right?”

She nodded, still chewing.

“Oh, uhm, happy birthday. Sorry for crashing into you.”

She shrugged. I eyed the band and the brooches. She had already collected seven pins, but I noticed that she lacked my father’s. “You haven’t talked to my dad yet.”

“Who’s that?” she asked after finishing the last sweet.

“Saint Aurelio of house Regulus. Purple hair, black eyes, no beard.”

“Oh, I was about to go to him but this boy tripped me and then he started yelling that I was trying to steal his food.”

_Why does it feel like something Charlos would do?_

“Was he a snotty pug-faced boy?” I tilted my head.

“Yes.”

“Of course it was,” I sighed. “Well, if it makes you feel better, at my debut he got angry because the cupcakes were red instead of green. It’s not you, it’s Snotty.”

She snorted at my nickname. I also smiled and stood up. I then offered my free hand to her and pulled her up. “Right. Do you want me to bring you to my dad?”

“Please,” she answered.

I turned away and gestured her to follow. We found my father, she received the brooch but, instead of letting her go, I accompanied her. We chatted between one token and the other. Amare was nice, even if I could sometimes glimpse the cruelty and Tenryūbito upbringing. It came out when she asked information on where people were to the waiters and butlers roaming around and carrying trays of glasses or finger food.

The girl gathered a few more pins and during our search for number thirteen I asked her if she already spoke to Saint Jalmack. Her negative answer made him our next target. We collected the thirteenth token and went to search for Jalmack.

We found him with Samael and I smiled thinking that even if Leo tried separating us, we still would talk. I waved at him with a cheerful smile. Amare and I reached them and while she spoke to Jalmack, I focused on Samael.

“Wasn’t your father’s name Fredrick?”

“Mhm? Oh, yes, but Jalmack is my uncle.”

At his answer, I did a double-take and my eyes widened a little. _Yesss._

“Sooo…” I started with a sweet tone, ”how much are you into pissing Leo off?”

He stared at me for a moment, then with a little smirk he asked: “What do you have in mind?”

“You remember earlier when he dragged you left and right, don’t you?” He nodded and I continued with a too-wide smile. “I was following you. In fact, he started yanking you away when he spotted me. It seems dear Leontide is the protective brother. So sometimes we could talk, play games or simply hang out. We don’t have to be alone, from how he behaved today and last time I mentioned you I don’t think he would even allow it, really. Just to keep him on his toes.”

“That’s evil, I’m in.”

We shook hands and I couldn’t stop smiling. Mission ‘Befriend the Enemy’ was a success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading!
> 
> This chapter was hard. I know what I want to do next, but I struggle with the in-between. This is the in-between. Then I remembered that I had Koala. And that I wanted Feli to be friends with the other Tenryūbito.  
> Even the title was hard to find. For the others, it came easily. I knew right away how to name the chapters even when they weren't finished. This, instead, took time.😣  
> Also, Samael was supposed to be a one time character only, but then I had to find someone connected to Jalmack so I recycled him. I'm a newbie, the fewer people I have to juggle the better.
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: Visits and Voyage.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	10. Visits and Voyage

A few days after the party I received Samael invite to go visit him. Leo was annoyed, of course, and demanded to accompany me. Since I wasn’t completely heartless, and I didn’t want my brother to sulk the whole time I was there, I also invited Amare. Cas didn’t want to be excluded so he came too. We spent the afternoon playing, chatting and snacking. We repeated our playdates several times, both at Samael’s house and at our home. Cas realized what we were doing early on and every time he saw Leo separate us he snickered, but after the first time, he never went to Samael’s again.

At first, Leo was bent on keeping me as far as possible from Samael, but my brother slightly relaxed when he realized that riling him was what we wanted. Now he was irritated and butted in only when we purposely stayed close or acted too friendly.

Sometimes I invited only Amare. She was a cute sweet girl. We played and often I helped her with her homework. She was a bit shy but Amare seemed happy to spend time with me. She also wanted to write to Reiju when she found out about my penpal. I didn’t know how the pink girl reacted but I hoped she would indulge the child.

Mjosgard, too, visited for his ‘lessons’, usually on the weekends. My parents initially were confused about why would I want to hang out with a sixteen-year-old or him with me but didn’t prohibit it. I ‘taught’ him in the garden house with my slaves. In the beginning, my slaves weren’t thrilled to find out that a Celestial Dragon, another Celestial Dragon that wasn’t me, encroached on their safe haven. Surprisingly, it was Marigold that scolded me this time, Hancock called me a menace again, Sandersonia looked unsure and a little afraid while Koala (sweet, precious and still somewhat brainwashed Koala) accepted it without complaints. They calmed a bit when they realized that they didn’t need to interact with the Tenryūbito if the didn’t want to, they could even ignore Mjosgard if they so choose. Mjosgard at first was appalled by their behavior (“how dare they ignore a god!” He shouted indignantly) but then I explained to him that this was his ‘lesson’: he should make my slaves happy to be with him. (“We are gods, right? Who wouldn’t relish the honor to bask in our presence? Instead, they fear you. Try to change that.”) Was I trying to make him more human before time? Yes. Did I care? Nope. My offer was a spur of the moment, I needed to teach him something and if his slaves were beaten less, nobody was complaining. It was a win-win situation.

I also went to Pangea Castle a couple of times. Tokitomo let me watch him practicing and taking care of his sword. He was old but also graceful with it. He also tried to teach me a few basic stances, not with Shodai of course but he produced a wooden sword for me to train with. I learned slowly mostly because I was too preoccupied with listening to their conversations. I was doing my best to being subtle but they didn’t talk of anything important in front of me. I had more luck when I wasn’t with them. I found this little secluded garden almost right under their room and I would go there from time to time. It was the perfect spot, far enough that you couldn’t hear or see them but right in my range, that was now of 250 meters. Usually, I brought a little notebook where I doodled and it seemed that I simply enjoyed the scenery, but in reality, I was listening and remembering everything they discussed (again thanks, Devil Fruit). After a bit of experimenting I found out that if in my mental pond I immersed my eyes or ear, I could hijack the senses of the person that was in the room with them. I made sure that it was someone I was sure wouldn’t be the Gorōsei or Im, so nobody that felt old. That meant that I couldn’t always eavesdrop but I got quite a bit.

I also got a message from Garp. It was a little note with three words on it that was brought during breakfast when the mail was delivered. A simple ‘He is here’ without a signature but the ‘to the annoying shrimp’ clued me in.

So now I needed to find a way to contact Morgans. I wanted to ask him to help Rosinante get the Ope Ope no Mi and the juicy information that I got eavesdropping the Five Elders would be the payment.

The problem was that I didn’t know how to contact him, but I had an idea. The idea, however, required to use my power in ways I haven’t done before, so I went back to training. I preferred to keep my involvement secret, I didn’t even want to be seen delivering letters, so my plan was memory erasure. I asked the Gorgons to help me and they accepted even if a bit hesitantly. I hid something in their room and told them what it was, then I waited a few hours. After that, I used the Mind-Mind Fruit: I imagined their memory as a book, as I did for mine, and when I immersed my hand in the lake I took it out, ripped the page where the memory was recorded and put it back. Since I had three volunteers I repeated the process three times, one every hour, and noticed that the longer it passed the harder it was for me to tear the page off. Now I could pass messages without getting caught.

So now I just had to write the letter and mail it. At first, I was a bit hesitant with tampering the memories of others, but then I remembered that if someone found out my intentions then they'd kill me without regrets. I dictated the message to Clara to write and then erased her memory of doing it. After that, I picked up some chocolate chip cookies, went outside on the front garden and called one of the slaves maintaining the city. I gave him the letter and instructed him to take it to the Red Port mailbox and take every letter addressed to Amber. While he was away I looked around, six other slaves were in the vicinity. I opened the fence and drew their attention. “Hey, does someone want cookies?”

They all stopped working and eyed the box on my outstretched hands.

“Come on, they are good,” I said while picking up one and eating it. “And with all the work you have to do, I bet you’re all hungry.”

They all left their post and accepted my treats even if shyly. While they ate the one that I sent away returned empty-handed and I also offered him the cookies. He took two and they all returned to their task. I closed the fence, went back inside and sat on one of the couches near the front door. There I entered the mind of one of those slaves and riped the memory of the last half hour away. I was about to hop into the next mind when an idea struck me. I created a pen in hand and wrote in the book ‘someone will come to liberate the slaves soon. Spread the voice but keep a low profile’. I then repeated the process for all of them. I also made sure that nobody in the house saw me and, to those that did, I erased the memory. Satisfied, I skipped back to my garden house and to my slaves.

  
  


* * *

  
  


For the next months, I continued training and studying: I finished science, in history I had only a couple of centuries left while in kanji I just passed the thousand ideograms mark. My daily jog continued but the amazons noticed me exercising and invited me to their own routine workout. So every day before lunch, we did a couple of runs around the mansion. After that, they taught me a series of stretches and poses created by the Kuja that resembled Pilates and yoga.

I also continued developing my powers. Now I could create false memories or alter them. For the former, I needed to write the new memory on a sheet of paper and put in in the right place where I wanted it fit. The further back it was the better it could be assimilated and it took some time for it to completely merge. However, the merging was never completely perfect: when I picked up again the memory book, the added memory stuck slightly out from the book, it wasn’t aligned with the rest of the pages. For altering memory I erased a word here, added one there, pluralized this one, wrote a coma between these two and the memory of my subject was completely changed. I experimented only with the Boa sisters and only after I explained to them what I was going to do. They were, of course, reluctant, but still gave me permission. That was touching and the best demonstration of their trust, I knew that if I had asked it a year ago they wouldn’t have helped me.

I debated if I should alter Koala’s memory. I was fairly certain that I could make her less conditioned, but at the same time she couldn’t give me consent and it felt like another form of abuse. Besides, what I did with the other slaves was erasing a few minutes of their lives, but with Koala I had to completely change her entire mindset. After a lot of agonizing over it, I didn’t do anything, in the series she ended up fine even without me.

I maintained the lessons with Mjosgard. He was beginning to show some progress: he often brought the same fishmen he had at the party and they told me that the noble was less prone to lash out on them. Maybe it was also because they listened to what I told them at the party and laid low, but I was happy to hear it. Even so, my slaves had no intention to speak to him. Baby steps, I guess.

On the contrary, they were more friendly towards Amare. Perhaps because she was only a five years old girl, perhaps because they knew that I would be able to physically overpower her if she tried to hit them or perhaps because they realized she always tried to imitate me.

Moreover, Reiju’s response arrived both for me and Amare. The girl was ecstatic when I gave her the letter and wiggled in excitement. I tried to stifle my laugh but she caught me and stuck her tongue out. In the letter addressed to me, Reiju explained that she was happy to hear that I finally had a friend (I recounted my birthday party and the reason why I was alone months before). She also wrote that if Amare wanted she could also be her penpal. My fellow Tenryūbito was overjoyed and demanded we answered immediately.

My birthday passed again and this time I invited Amare, Mjosgard and Samael to celebrate. My parents nowadays accepted Mjosgard and welcomed him. Well, they pretty much liked all of my friends: Amare was like their second daughter, Mjosgard was treated like a cousin (which, all things considered, in some way he probably was) and Samael was also Leo’s friend so they knew him well. They also announced that we would go on a family trip a week after and they were all invited to come. Amare and Samael said that they had to ask permission from their parents, Mjosgard sadly thanked them but refused due to his parent’s twentieth anniversary happening there.

The Five Elders also sent a present. Apparently they knew of my imminent travel because their gift was a gun. The note attached explained that they had Vegapunk (yes, _that_ Vegapunk) create a weapon for me. It was able to shoot, in rapid succession, smaller more aerodynamic bullets that had a Seastone core if I wanted to incapacitate a Devil Fruit user. Supposedly the gun was too expensive for mass production but they gave me one because they liked me. I was conflicted. On one hand, it was an awesome gift ( _holy shit, the most intelligent person on the planet built something specifically for me_ ), on the other, it was concerning ( _what’s wrong with people here? Who gives a seven-year-old a gun? Why are they all psychos here?_ ). Still, I accepted it. Like I wasn’t going to, I may be slow but I’m not dumb.

  
  


* * *

  
  


We were on the Bondola number 4. With us came Samael, Amare was still too young to be allowed outside the Holy Land. I also decided to leave the Gorgons and Koala in Mary Geoise because while at home I could treat them with dignity and keep them away from my family, here it would be impossible. L came, which saddened Koala but I wasn’t going to leave him behind when I have a permanent link with him. First, because I didn’t know how we would react if we distanced ourselves so much and second because not having him around felt wrong.

We started our descent. I was on the upper deck, waiting to finally see the ocean for the first time in seven years.

The wind was tousling my hair but I was too excited to mind. I was out. I was seeing the world that I spent years watching and reading about. Suddenly my head was in a bubble and I felt my hair being picked up and shoved in my clothes.

“See? This is why you should let your maids put your hair up. It doesn’t fit into your helmet,” I heard my mom saying behind me. I turned towards her.

“Wha-?”

“Sweetheart, we are leaving Mary Geoise, you have to protect yourself. What if you breathe the air of the inferior beings? You could get sick or die or, even worse, lose your divinity. The only place where you can stay without a helmet is home, I thought you knew that.”

_Riiight. I forgot about that._

She noticed my skepticism so she continued explaining: “Don’t you know? Some years ago, one of us, a relative of Mjosgard actually, decided to leave Mary Geoise. He and his family breathed the air of the lower people and died.”

_Is… is she talking about Doffy’s family? Holy crap, she’s leaving a lot out. Did I get my ability to spout bullshit flawlessly from her?_ I blinked a few times, not knowing how to respond and decided to change the subject.

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, we didn’t tell you? Our first stop is Spa Island, then we will go to Water 7. If you want you can stay there but your father would then go to St. Poplar, he wanted to find a certain object. Then we’ll go back and visit Walda Island, that I’m sure you kids will like, and finally to the Sabaody Archipelago.”

I nodded. _So Water 7 and Sabaody. Do I get to meet Franky? Well, he’s not Franky yet. And wasn’t St. Poplar where he got the wood for the Sunny?_

“Why those?”

“Spa Islands is an artificial island. We reserved it and it’ll be surrounded by a dome. Many World Nobles visit it so it's one of the few places where you can take away your helmet. We’ll stay there for a few days then we’ll sail to our next destination. Your father wants something and he heard that it’ll be sold at St. Poplar. Unfortunately, there’s no place to stay that’s appropriate for us, so we’ll stay at Water 7. Walda Island is an island completely transformed into an amusement park. We reserved it for two days. Then we’ll head to Sabaody Archipelago, for shopping and, if your father didn’t find the thing in St. Poplar, the Auction House.”

I nodded again and returned to watch the horizon. I felt my mother patting my shoulder and then I heard her footsteps leaving. For a while, I just stood there leaning on the railing and looking in the distance, then emerging from the fog and bubbles came the sea. It was my first time in this life seeing the ocean. And it wasn’t just a normal ocean. I spent years and years reading and watching about the adventures on this sea and here it was, right in front of me. And I was going to sail on it. A giddy feeling rose inside of me and I couldn’t contain my smile. 

With a tap on the railing, I skipped back inside, calling L to me. I went to find one of the bathrooms after managing to find a tie. I put my hair up and looked in the mirror. Now the dress resembled very closely a spacesuit. I snorted. _One small step for man…_

I could swear I heard 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack. I softly giggled. _Duun, duuun, duuuuun… Du-duun! Dun, d_ _un_ _,_ _d_ _un_ _,_ _d_ _un_ _,_ _d_ _un_ _,_ _d_ _un_ _,_ _d_ _un_ _,_ _d_ _un_ _._

Suddenly, I was startled by someone gently jerking me. I quickly turned and there was a maid speaking, but I couldn’t hear her. For a moment I could still hear the music but my confusion and mild concern made it disappear. _The fuck?_

“Your Holiness? Are you all right? Should I go find Your parents?”

“Mhm? Oh, no. Sorry, just spacing out. What is it?”

Still looking a little worried, she continued. "We are arriving at the station, Saint Felicia. I was tasked to retrieve you.”

“Oh, right. Let’s go.”

  
  


We quickly walked to the others. I was meditating on what happened. Now that I was thinking about it, the music seemed _real_ , like there really was an orchestra playing it. _Wait. The Mind-Mind Fruit lets me control the brain. Oh, I can create hallucinations. Well, that’s neat. Another thing to try with the amazons when I come back._

We reached the entrance at the bottom of the Bomdola where the others were waiting. The maid bowed and went to the side. Mom and dad were already on the back of one of their slave, a half-giant it seemed. Leo was also sitting on a slave, reading a book. Cas was impatiently waiting, almost vibrating on the spot, and Samael was waving me over to join him. I reached him right as the Bomdola stopped and the door opened. We all got off and I silently wondered how Leo was able to read with the person carrying him crawling on the ground, it must have been wobbly up there but he seemed unperturbed. Cas had sprinted ahead and dad was shouting him not to go too far. Mom, sitting sideway on the half-giant, gestured me to hop on her lap, but I firmly refused.

“Our ship is the Lycaon,” said dad, “ which has a dog as its figurehead. We will be accompanied by ten guards and an Aigis agent, just to be sure. If the weather’s good, we’ll return in a month’s time.”

“When we arrive at the ship we will immediately go to the private section of the Lycaon,” continued mom. “The air there is filtered and safe to breathe. There we will be able to take out our resin helmet and put on more suitable ones for this journey.”

“But first, come here dear,” resumed dad. I trotted to his side and looked up at him. He took a necklace from one of his pockets and gave it to me. “This is a special Den Den Mushi. It is directly linked to Marineford and if someone is so stupid as to attack you, you have to press it and it will send a signal to the marines so one of the Admiral will come to save you.”

I inspected the necklace. It was a simple white sphere with the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon engraved on one side. I could faintly see a line all around it. I opened it and inside there was a tiny red snail. I closed it and put it around my neck. Dad nodded and we continued walking towards the docks.

We arrived at the harbor. It was completely closed and there were a number of ships, some marine, some merchants ships and others with animals as their figurehead. We located ours and boarded. Mom directed us to our cabins while dad stopped to talk with somebody in a mask (the CP agent I bet) and a marine with a long coat. 

Our rooms were right below deck, slightly at the back of the ship. A heavy metal door marked the entrance. As we entered, L immediately started sniffing around. In the back of my mind, I could feel his curiosity and excitement. I ignored him while mom instructed us to get out of the resin helmets and put the cubic glass ones. We complied and then Cas and I rushed up onto the deck, while Samael and Leo staid behind. L was happily trotting behind us, stopping to sniff here and there every few steps and then running to catch onto us. We encountered dad walking towards our cabins, we heard him shout not to run in the hallways but we ignored him.

Finally, we made it outside. We were still in the port, but people were now busy preparing the ship for setting sail. Cas let go of my hand and dashed to the helm. I followed him. We zigzagged between the sailors, that almost yelled at us but then noticed our robes and helmets and quickly shut up.

The rudder was at the bow of the ship. We arrived there and it was a strange sight: marines were running back and forth all over the ship but this small circle around the helm was still. There was the same marine that spoke with dad and two others. One of them was at the rudder and the other one was talking to the officer. They noticed our arrival and quickly bowed.

“Good morning, Saint Caspius. Welcome back to the Lycaon, I’m happy to see you again. Is that your sister? I remember you talking about her and her presents,” said the officer. “Hello, I’m Commodore Jae. I’ll be escorting you to your destination. If you need anything, please, don’t hesitate to say so.”

“Oh, uhm, hi. I’m Felicia. Presents?” I asked Cas.

“The Devil Fruits.” I nodded, understanding.

“So, what can I do for you, Saint Caspius, Saint Felicia?” asked the commodore, gently guiding us away from the helm. 

“I want to steer the ship!” shouted Cas, walking back to the rudder.

“Of course, Your Holiness. As soon as we are out of the port, we will relinquish the control to you.”

“I want to do it now. You!” said my brother pointing at the helmsman. “Get away from there. That’s my spot!”

The commodore swiftly caught up to him and gently tried to dissuade him. “Saint Caspius, please, the procedures of setting sails and docking require precision. Please, let us do this part and then-”

“Are you prohibiting me from something?! I’m a Tenryūbito. I can do anything!”

“I-I wouldn’t dare!” quickly stated the commodore. The helmsman was frozen on the spot, darting his eyes between the official and my brother. Commodore Jae looked more and more distressed. “Simply saying that it’s a careful maneuver. There are a lot of things that you should be aware of with a ship this big.”

“Are you saying that I’m not capable to do it?”

The commodore opened his mouth and closed it, looking around trying to deter Cas. On the other hand, my brother was marching towards the steering wheel. The helmsman seeing that swiftly, and fearfully, let the helm go as if it burned him. Seeing all that, I finally stepped in.

“Brother, stop!”

Cas halted and looked back at me, head tilted.

“Why don’t you... show me the ship? You’ve already been here, right? You can give a tour.”

“I’m busy now, but he can do it,” he replied pointing at the retreating helmsman.

“But I want you!” I insisted, pouting and puppy-eyed. “Please, I’m scared to go alone.”

“Alright, but just because I know you are afraid of strangers,” he sighed.

  
I smiled and took his hand. Then we were off, Cas already explaining what type of ship it was (a frigate) and what it could do. I looked back at the commodore and the helmsman and mouthed to be quick. They both relaxed and bowed in gratitude. _One crisis averted. I really hope this isn’t indicative of how the vacation will be._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading!
> 
> This chapter was supposed to be all together with the previous one (like the fifth and sixth), but after a couple of hundreds of words, I realized that I had too many things to say before Sabaody. Thus, I split it. 😵
> 
> I don't know anything about ships and sailing so this is just the fruit of my brief research. Please don't bash me if I got something wrong but corrections are always welcomed.
> 
> Also, the Lycaon is both an animal and a mythological person. The animal is an African dog, very social: they take care of their elders and sick. They are adorable and they also practice both monogamy and democracy, which is so fascinating and awesome: when they have to decide whether or not to go hunting they sneeze and the chances of them going increase with the number of lycaons sneezing.
> 
> The myth of Lycaon is a bit gruesome. Lycaon was the king of Arcadia, who had the brilliant idea to test if Zeus was really all-knowing by butchering one of his grandsons (or a prisoner in some versions) and serve him to the god. Naturally, Zeus noticed (maybe humans don't taste like chicken) and punished Lycaon by transforming him and all of his offspring (50 in some cases) except one in wolves. The one that got away became the new king of Arcadia. This was all to justify the human sacrifice that occurred in Arcadia in honor of Zeus Lycaeus because those happened. (Eh, the more you know.)
> 
> Anyway, I thought the complete contrast between the animal and the myth was very fitting. You know, the World Government, and by extension, the Celestial Dragons, is all about cooperation and justice and helping each other but in the end, they are horrible and ruthless people.  
> One last thing, I put the snail because I thought it was stupid that the Celestial Dragon had to rely on someone else to call an Admiral. In a world that hates them no matter how much they are feared, if they are alone without a snail and someone attacks them they are dead. So I fixed it. And if you are wondering, Homing and his family gave up being a World Noble so they also gave up the Den Den Mushi.
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: An Audience with the King.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	11. An Audience with the King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **  
> A little warning, this chapter is a little darker than the others. I'm talking about torture and murder, so if you're uncomfortable you can skip it and I'll put a summary on the next chapter on what happened.  
> **
> 
> Also, I'm updating from my phone because I currently don't have a computer nearby so this chapter will be messier than usual. I'm sorry for that and I promise that I'll edit it as soon as I'm able.

In the Before, I always considered One Piece a happy story. Don't misunderstand, it had its dark moments (the backstory of every straw hat for example) but in the end, it was a cheerful story. I could name at least five other series sadder and/or grimmer than One Piece on the top of my head. And even if I knew that it was a horrible, horrible world, where the chances of witnessing someone being murdered were equal to those of catching a cold in winter, Luffy's energy and joy went a long way to mask that.

I always knew that my family was awful even before I realized where I was and intellectually I knew they were the scum of the Earth. But they were so good to me, so caring, so thoughtful. Maybe I avoided thinking about it, maybe I buried my head under the sand. I _did_ spend a lot of time studying or playing with L and the amazons, so I was rarely present when they… disciplined slaves. However, during our travel, I could finally see their ruthless self-absorption, their complete disregard of human life. Nothing made me question my motives more and at the same time made me recognize the need of changing them.

I was seven when I saw my first execution. My first homicide.

* * *

It took us two days to get to Spa Island. Cas, after showing me the ship, returned to the helm. Fortunately, we were already sailing so when we came back, he was immediately handed the wheel. It didn't last long. Of course, it didn't, my energetic brother staying still and watching an endless expanse of water for an extended period of time? Nobody was surprised when he went back to our cabin not even a couple of hours after we separated. ("It's boring if there's only water, I want to helm when there's something interesting. Like docking or setting sail. A storm would also be fun," he stated and I shuddered. _Great, now I have to find a way to distract him again._ )

The journey was exhausting mainly for two reasons: I suffered seasickness (yay) and my family was a nightmare made form. The former was easily remedied, a little tweaking in my control room made me less susceptible to the up and down of the sea. The latter was the more concerning. While Leo was happy to be left alone reading, Cas needed to move and even if the ship was big, it was filled with people, common people, who my brother saw as nothing more than useful ants that he could squash whenever he wanted. It was like babysitting, but with the added pressure that if the kid cried, heads would be rolling. Literally. And sometimes the kids would be two because Samael was also there he was still a child and an active one as well. Not Cas level active (I don't think many could match Cas level of energy, thank God for that), but still pretty energetic. Moreover, my parents were useless: they didn't see anything wrong with the boys' behavior, on the contrary, they wanted to know if we were slighted and how, so they could exact 'justice'. By the time we approached our first stop, I needed a vacation from my family.

So now I had to distract Cas from demanding to stir the ship during the docking. It had to be something active but not so much that we would be in the way of the marines. Fortunately, Samael wasn't as interested in the frigate as my brother. When Spa Island was in sight, I went searching for the problem child. I intercepted him on the stairs leading to the bow. "Cas, I need your help."

"Right now?" He whined. "I was in the middle of something."

"Yes, right now. Can you teach me how to shoot?"

"Can't someone else do it?"

"Mom and dad are having their alone time, Leo is reading and I'm too embarrassed to let Samael know that I never used a gun. Please, brother, you're the only one that can help me."

"Fine." He huffed, stomping down the stairs. Cas marched towards the back of the ship and I followed him. Halfway there he ordered a sailor, who was manning some ropes, to come with us. My brother was rather rude, well, more rude than usual but I attributed it to being held from the rudder. Still, it made me feel a bit nervous but I stayed silent.

"This is where you hold it, this is where the bullets go and this is the safety. You hold it this way making sure your position is steady, take the safety off, aim and pull the trigger." He explained and passed the gun to me. Then he looked at the marine and pointed at the banister. "You go there and stay there."

After that Cas came behind me and put his hands on my shoulder. "Shoot him."

My mind went blank. I could see the marine blanch and wide-eyed under his hat.

"What?" I managed to whisper looking at Cas over my shoulder.

"Eyes forward," he said while turning my head forward. "Keep your center of gravity between your legs and mind the recoil."

I stared at the man in front of me for a few minutes. He was shaking but he didn't dare to move. Then I finally stepped away from Cas, faced him. I threw the gun on the ground and angrily snapped. "I'm not shooting somebody! What's wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! You're the one that asked me to teach you. I was already doing something but I still decided to help you!" He yelled back.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to use him as target practice! He's a person, you know?"

"He's an inferior being, what's wrong with using him?!"

I stared at him trying and failing to form words. How could a thirteen-year-old kid already be so indifferent towards human life? "Why him? Why can't I use empty bottles?"

"Bottles are smaller and you'll be shooting at people. Look, he's the perfect target," he said while picking up the gun and aiming it. "You just have to focus on his chest and pull the trigger."

"No! Stop!" I rushed into Cas and pushed his arms up.

A loud bang went off and I heard a thud. I was too afraid and shocked to look at the marine. I killed him. I killed someone because I didn't want Cas to stir a ship.

The pungent smell of urine hit my nose but I was too numb to react to it.

"Get up, you useless filthy worm! Go get someone that won't be scared of serving a god!" Cas ordered at the dead man? I turned and saw the marine sprawled on the ground, soiled trousers but miraculously alive. Relief flooded me and this time it was me that crumbled on the ground.

"Feli, what are you doing? This time you'll be the one shooting so get up."

I stayed where I was, looking at the fleeing sailor. He was alive. Traumatized but alive. A hand entered my vision and helped me stand. Cas gave me back the weapon, I took it and started walking back to our cabins. I could hear my brother asking me where I was going but I ignored him and continued walking.

I threw myself face down on the bed and staid there until L wormed himself under my arm. Only when I rearranged to hug the puppy I noticed the wet spots were my head lied. I was crying.

I staid like for a long time, I heard people knocking on the door but ignored them. Even L couldn't console me.

* * *

Spa Island was a resort build up high over the ocean. The port was on the base of the large column that supported the entire structure. On the way there, before my target practice, we could see a huge dome brought down over the entire Island. We spent four days there and during that time I avoided Cas like the plague. I couldn't face him. He was my brother but he attempted murder, how could I get over it? He was the one that helped me during my birthday party, with my math homework and (re) taught me how to play tag. And he shot someone. Did I just forgive and forget? I was very good at it, the Mind-Mind Fruit made me so. But it felt like agreeing with that behavior. Thus I avoided my brother. Cas didn't seem to notice much but Leo did. He tried to corner me but the place was big and we were the only guests there: if he searched me in the swimming pools I hid in the suite or restaurant, if he looked inside I was on the highest water slide of the spa.

He was able to catch me only after we boarded the ship. "Alright, spill it. Why are you dodging Cas?"

"Do I have to tell you? Can't you just turn a blind eye to it?" I whined, knowing that it was useless trying to deny the evidence with Leo.

"We are going to spend the next six days on this ship, he's slow but not stupid. He'll notice you, so talk."

I sighed and told him what happened. "So you are just squeamish. You don't like to see something die."

"That wasn't something, that was a human being almost being murdered."

"Murder," he scoffed. "There's nothing wrong if Cas, or any of us, wants to kill an inferior being. There's not much difference between them and animals. Besides, it's not like there's a shortage of them."

I rubbed my face with both hands and shook my head. I knew that trying to explain what's wrong to any of them was futile, but talking about it and hearing the dismissal in my brother's voice was making me sick. How can they be so empathetic with me and so ruthless towards anyone else? How can I make them see reason?

"So what, just because they were born on the sea level and don't have a glass helmet they are animals? They don't deserve decency just because their ancestors didn't stick a sword before a fancy chair?"

He looked at me, blinking confusedly. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

I sighed. I knew he wouldn't understand but it was still frustrating. "Just because we won the lottery birth doesn't mean we have to be cruel to anyone who didn't."

"It wasn't a lottery. We are above them therefore we couldn't be born as anything other than Celestial Dragons. You still don't see it?"

"Yeah, yeah, we are gods, whatever," I huffed dismissingly. I was tired and so done with this conversation. "I promise to talk to Cas. Can I go now?"

Leo stared at me tilting his head while I scowled more and more. Finally, he stepped away letting me pass. I heard him mumble something but I was too tired to paying attention.

* * *

I didn't apologize to Cas nor him to me but I slowly and tentatively started to speak with him again. I was certainly being more careful about what I said to him. I asked the commodore to take some time and teach him how to helm the frigate, which extended our trip to seven days. We used the Gates of Justice to reach Water 7 since it was the safest, and straightest, way for us to move, so we coasted Marineford and arrived at the enormous doors. When they opened, they formed gigantic whirlpools. At first, my brother insisted to be handed the controls but then we got locked into one of them he begrudgingly gave them back to the helmsman. After that, he was more accepting of the commodore's instructions. Cas practiced his maneuvers on the rocks of Impel Down (and I had a teeny tiny meltdown, knowing where I was) but at the end of the day, he could dock and set sail properly, provided that the weather was good and the sea calm.

We arrived at Water 7 on the evening of the seventh day. It was beautiful: the city lightened by streetlamps and the various houses, some of the bulls also had lanterns attached to them and the various canals reflecting the lights. We all landed except dad, who, after hugging us and kissing mom, continued towards S. Poplar. Mom informed us that she had purchased the tickets for a play and we had to quickly go. Do she guided us to the Teatro Gulduno. A bronze plaque identified it as the oldest theatre in the city. Our place was a balcony directly in front of the stage, decorated by deep green laurel, white lilies and orange and blue crane flowers. The play was named Diamonds and Coffee that reminded me very much of Breakfast at Tiffany's. The actress, a cute blonde with a bob cut, who played the female protagonist looked familiar, like One Piece character familiar, but I couldn't recognize her. "Mom," I whispered nudging her. "Who's the female lead?"

"If I remember correctly, she is Victoria Cindry. She is quite famous and beloved."

Oh, Thriller Bark. Oh. Poor girl, she doesn't deserve that.

"She is pretty, isn't she?" Chimed in Samael and I nodded. "Perhaps I should take her as a slave. She is beautiful and can also sing well."

I widened my eyes and scrambled to think of a way to persuade him. Why are they so focused on being assholes towards everyone everywhere? Don't they need to rest?

"Wow, really?" I said trying to sound disinterested. "A couple of boobs and you are gone. I thought better of you, Sam."

"Is that jealousy I hear? My, my, Feli, you should know you are the only one in my heart of hearts," he answered opening his arms.

"No, it's disappointment."

I heard my mother snort behind me while Leo was now staring daggers into Samael's head.

"Very well," sighed Sam. "Since the notion of her becoming my slave makes you suffer so much, I'll let her go. Don't I deserve a kiss?"

_You don't deserve shit. That's common fucking sense_ , I wanted to say. Instead, I pecked his cheek. Seeing that, Leo demanded to switch places for fear of Samael dirtying my sweet self more. I returned to watch the play ignoring them. Leo's fussing usually had me giggling but not now. I knew that Samael could have ordered someone to collar Victoria right on the stage and nobody would have done anything to help her.

The next day we went to see the construction site for the sea train. I was vibrating the whole time. _Franky. Franky. Franky. Franky._

My family noticed my excitement and softly giggled at my enthusiasm. When we arrived Tom was there but no Iceburg nor Franky. I might have pouted. Tom gave us a tour and explained what does what and what goes where. I didn't listen much, partially because it was boring, partially because I was looking for Franky. I did not find Franky. _Well, this trip is a disappointment. If I have to suffer my family's behavior, the least Fate could do is let me meet Franky._

After lunch, we were informed of my father's return so we headed to the ship. When we arrived on the deck my heart plumbed.

"Useless. Slow. Worm." Shouted my dad, accentuating every word with a lash of his whip on the helmsman. "It's. Your. Fault. That. I. Lost. It."

I tried to leave but Leo grabbed my arm. I looked at him confused and scared. "It's for your good," he gently murmured. "It's a de-sensitization. You'll be better after."

I yanked my arm again and again with raising panic but he didn't let go. L started growling at my brother but he ignored the puppy. I could feel the bile and lunch raising. The whacks of the whip were the only things I could hear. "Please," I managed to whisper.

Leo shook his head and grabbed my shoulders, making me face my dad. Now the dog was full-on barking, the only thing preventing it from attacking Leo was me stopping him with my mind link, fearing that L would incur in the Tenryūbito's wrath.

The marine was tied to the mast, his short in tatters stuck in places with blood. So much blood. He wasn't even crying anymore, just an occasional flinch let us know that he was still alive, if only barely.

I threw up. The helmet prevented it from splattering on the ground, which meant it came down to my clothes but at that moment I wasn't paying attention to it. I could feel L concern and fear and I tried to reassure him. Meanwhile, I could hear Leo calling me in worry on the background, but I was focused on the clattering of the whip on the deck and my father's footsteps coming our way.

"What's happening? What are you doing to your sister? Someone call a medic! A Celestial Dragon is ill!"

"I was just trying to help," answered timidly Leo.

Dad ignored me and grabbed my helmet. He didn't take it away but he made me face him. "Feli, dear, can you hear me? What happened? Did you eat something bad?"

A doctor arrived and started escorting me back to our cabins. Dad and Leo followed, but before coming I heard my father order: "Throw the trash overboard. We don't need it."

I was almost inside when I heard a moan and a splash. Wide-eyed I ran to the banister. The sea had a red spot but people were quickly pulling up a body on the bank. I tried to search for his mind. He was alive. Unconscious, but alive. I slid down, relieved and darkness took me.

* * *

We set sail without the helmsman. Apparently, he was being punished because they were late and dad missed the auction. It was, of course, the helmsman's fault, not Cas' or mine for wasting time learning how to control a ship.

I was done. I was so done with this trip. I wanted to go back to Mary Geoise and hide in my garden house with Koala and the amazons. But, sadly, that wasn't the plan.

It took us three days to reach Walda Island and we stayed for another two. It was a Theme Park completely reserved for us, but this one didn't have a dome over it so we had to keep our helmets (a new one for me after the accident). It looked fun but I wasn't in the right mindset to enjoy our stay.

During that time I didn't talk much, I wasn't sure I could refrain from yelling angrily at my family so I decided to keep quiet. They noticed it and wondered what was wrong everything. They even brought back up the bad food but I reassured them again that no the restaurant in Water 7 wasn't responsible for my mood. The last thing I needed was a business being destroyed because my family doesn't have morals.

But now that I was burned (two islands and two almost death, a fucked up record), I was observing my family, trying to decipher them and find out what made them tick. They got angry a few times but at the end of our stay, nothing as bad as human target practice or whipping somebody to death happened. _Maybe I should just stay silent._

Now we were on our way to Sabaody. Cas didn't ask to helm anymore, instead, now he was focused on furling and unfurling the sails. I was afraid we would lose time and dad would get angry again but in the end, we arrived on time. The crew was probably terrified of him and did their best and more to get to the Archipelago on time.

Our hotel was on grove 73, it was called the Blooming Forest. We docked on grove 68, I asked my parents to rent those weird bicycles on bubbles and Cas and I raced against Leo and Sam (we won, of course. We were lighter than the two boys and Leo didn't help much). I managed to somewhat ignore the kneeling people scattered on the way. Honestly, after what happened in the last few days, kneeling people was the least of my problems.

The Blooming Forest wasn't on the main road, surrounded by a lush woodland area filled with blooming trees and bushes (hence the name). It was secluded from the general chaos and noise of the roads. The delicate and sweet smell of flowers permeated the place and we could hear the soft rumbling of water in the distance. It was its own peaceful bubble (eh, bubble) in the mids of a busy and prosperous city. But that didn't mean it wasn't fancy. In the center of the forest, a lazy creek ran among the buildings. Our rooms were on the other side of it and we waited for our parents there. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and resting from the travel.

The next day we separated. Mom and I went shopping while the others went to Sabaody Park. When we asked if anyone wanted to come with us Leo stared at us dead-eyed, Sam's eyes darted around trying to find a way out and Cas looked like we asked him if he preferred to get his arms chopped off or his legs, in the end, it was just mom and me.

So we mounted our means of transportation, the bubble bicycles for me and the half-giant back for her, and we were off. A couple of hours, and shops, later my mother started talking about our preeminence and the importance of family. "You see, Felicia, we are blessed being far above the common rabble. Our inherited superiority clashes when in contact with the barbaric nature of the people down here. We all react differently when this happens but you mustn't let it come between family. Very very few have ascended godhood so if you distance yourself from us not only you'll be lonely, but also the common folk will prey upon you and will easily corrupt you."

I stopped cycling and simply stared at her astounded. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Moreover, people around us stopped moving and kneeled on the ground. She wasn't being subtle and everyone could hear her. Shame filled me. "I-I don't like people getting hurt."

"Oh, you are such a sweet girl," she cooed putting one hand on my cheek and caressing It with her thumb. "But they aren't important. What's important is for you not to hide from us. You can tell us anything, sweetheart, we are here for you. The rest is just disposable."

"I don't think I can just write people off as disposable," I answered with a slight edge of anger in my voice.

"Give it time. You've been sheltered your whole life, but from now on you're going to be exposed to the outside world more often. In time you'll understand."

It's not a phase, mom. I swallowed back those words. Instead, I managed to stammer an agreement behind gritted teeth.

The day after we went to the auction. I couldn't remember if the auction house where Camie was (will be?) sold was the same as the one we were. We had central seats, spacious and delimited. We didn't want to mix with the common folk, the horror. Mom vanished a few moments ago after a guard whispered something in her ear. We still had time before the auction started, so Cas and I started wandering around.

"You don't understand. That is my husband's. You'll give it to me and you'll be happy to do so."

That was my mother's voice. Curious, we turned the corner and found her with two guards speaking ordering with another man.

"Those are my people. My family. I won't give them to anyone," answered the man. He was dressed in long deep brown robes. His face and hands tattooed with what looked like a tribal design. He was clutching a black wooden box no larger than a jewelry box. "I lawfully acquired them in S. Poplar after they were stolen from us. I won't give them no matter how much you offer me."

"Oh, you misunderstand," said mom, cheerfully, as if she heard a joke. "I'm not buying them. My family went a long way to find them. Sadly when we arrived at S. Poplar they were already sold. Thank you for bringing them here to us but now I'll take them."

As she finished saying that the two guards grabbed the man and tore the box from his hands, pushing him on the ground.

"Thank you for the collaboration," said my mother, turning around. She saw us and her smile, that until now had been fake, became warm and affectionate. "Have a good day."

The man lunged and managed to get a hold of mom's train. He pulled but the guards were able to keep mom standing and restrain him at the same time. A flash of fury passed over her eyes but then it was gone. She looked at me like she just got proven right. "You see, Feli," she said softly. "Barbaric. All of them."

Then mom turned around and shot him in the head. I didn't have time to process it. I was frozen, staring at the corpse. One moment he was struggling against the guards and the next he was slumped in their hold.

Mom walked up to me, took my hand and tugged me gently away. "Come on, sweetheart, let's show daddy what we found."

* * *

Dad was ecstatic when we returned and brought the box. He kissed mom and opened it. There were two gems similar to diamonds, but they had a faint light coming from within. They were beautiful and in another moment I would have examined them closely, but I just saw my mother kill someone.

The auction started, I was staring at the stage but my mind was focused on the body of the guy left to rot in some hallway.

After a while (minutes? hours?) a gentle glow from the stage managed to tear me away from my stupor. The other two gems, like the one my mom took ~~murdered someone for~~ , were brought up.

"And now we are presenting our item number 26. The Silmarte jewels," stated the host, gesturing to the gems. "They come from the West Blue, where the Silm tribe scatter the ashes of their people inside the Island's volcano. Every fifty years there's an eruption that throws the jewels all throughtout the island. The Silm people believe that the soul of their dead give the jewels their spark and protect them from harm. We start from a base of 80000 Bellies."

My heart lurched and I felt even worse. _Oh, God. Oh, God. What did she do? I'm dreaming, this is a nightmare._

I put my head between my legs and tried to suppress the need to vomit. I stayed there inhaling and exhaling until I felt like I wasn't going to hurl the moment I moved.

When I lifted my head again we were on the slave section of the auction. An older man was being brought on stage. He wasn't old but he had already passed his prime. The faint wrinkles and mostly white hair indicated his age, but those were laughing wrinkles and you could still see some ash blonde between the gray hair. A scar ran vertically on his right eyes but he could still see and his beard was well kept but not obsessively so. The loose shirt and trousers hid his muscular form. I recognized him immediately, my eyes widened and my mind went blank. It was stupid, I should have realized I could have met him but I didn't. And now he was looking disinterestedly at the audience with an amused smirk on his face like he didn't fear what would happen to him ( _and why should he. There's no one here scarier than him_ ).

My mind stopped and then swiftly resumed at lightning speed. _Oh God, what is he doing here? Did he already start selling himself and robbing his owner? What do I do? Do I just fake ignorance? Oh, God. Oh, God. I want to speak to him but I'm not ready to speak to him._

"This is item number 63. Shipcoater Ray. He sold himself after losing one too many games. Don't let his age fool you, he is strong and more than able to endure hard work. We are starting with a base of 21500 Bellies."

They are selling Silver Rayleigh at 21500 Bellies. I couldn't contain an incredulous snort. He heard me and his eyes darted on me. People started bidding. I was tempted to join them but the knowledge of who it was made me hesitate.  _Uhm, hi, sorry for disturbing you. Can I buy you?_

He squinted his eyes and tilted his head but still kept his gaze on me. I didn't know how he knew it was me talking but he knew. _ I'm being sold in an auction house. The highest bidder will buy me.  _

_ Yes, but if I buy you could you wait a bit before knocking me out? You don't even have to do it, I'll let you go whenever you want. I just want to talk to you, please.  _

_ Knocking you out? How could I, an old ship coater, knock out and esteemed World Noble?  _

_ Yeah, how could you, your majesty.  _

This time he was the one who snorted. I felt amusement and the tiniest bit of curiousness on our link. _ Alright, little lady. If you acquire me then we'll chat.  _

So I whispered to dad that I wanted to buy Rayleigh. It was laughably easy buying him. People were scared of us and we were richer than everybody here combined, so not many bidders remained after dad's first offer and after a couple more the others gave up too. We brought Rayleigh for 125000 Bellies. Practically a steal.

After that, we waited until the end of the auction before returning to the Blooming Forest. Rayleigh managed to distract me from what happened earlier but my mind quickly returned to the death of the Silm. The dark king was waiting for me outside with one of the auction house workers, who gave me the key to his collar and the paper which stated that he was my property. He followed us back to the hotel, but my mind was miles away. Only after slumping on the bed, I noticed him. He cleared his throat and I jumped out of it scared.

"So. You seem to know me, but I don't remember meeting before. Do Celestial Dragons abandon good manners with their morals now?"

"No, sorry. I'm Felicia Regulus. I'm sorry for dragging you here ...sir? Rayleigh? Dark king?"

"Ray."

"Ray."

There was a pause. He continued to stare calmly at me while I had my head lowered on the ground. "You wanted to talk."

"Oh, yes."

I didn't continue and he raised one eyebrow.

"Sorry," I apologized, shaking my head. "It's been a long day. Week. Month."

He continued to stare silently. I sighed. "Actually I don't know why I wanted to talk to you. You are one of the most badass and awesome people alive and I just wanted to be able to speak to you. I don't really know why or what to say. Sorry."

Another pause, in which I squirmed on the spot, certain that he found me annoying.

"You are apologizing quite a lot for a Tenryūbito."

"I'm not a normal Tenryūbito."

"I noticed," he agreed and sat on one of the couches. "So, little lady, why do you have that thousand-mile stare?"

I hesitated a moment but I eventually answered: "I saw someone being killed for the first time today. My mom did it."

He didn't say anything silently encouraging me to continue. I looked between him and the couch silently asking him to sit. Not receiving any response, positive or otherwise, I sat beside him.

"I love my family. I really do. They are awesome and so loving. But all throughout this journey, they have been nothing but cruel and inhuman towards everybody. I don't think that that's who they are, because they are good to me, but Cas almost shot a person, dad whipped someone almost to death and mom killed another one just because he didn't want to let the ashes of his people go," now I was simply pouring my thoughts that I had suppressed during the whole trip. I didn't even realize who I talking with. "If I was a normal Celestial Dragon, if I didn't have a conscience, I wouldn't be this way and I wouldn't be suffering. But if I wasn't me then Hancock, Sandersonia and Marigold would be still closed off and full of hate and Koala would still be unable to cry and she wouldn't have that prideful glint in her eyes whenever L obeys one of her commands."

"There's nothing wrong with not seeing eye to eye with your family," he calmly said after I finished my rant. "You should tell them and let them see reason, but they are their own people. You can try to change them but don't be distraught if, in the end, it doesn't work out. You can push them, and if you really love them you should, but they are the ones that must change."

"What if I can't?" I was now crying.

"Have you tried?"

I shook my head, drying my tears with a sleeve.

"Then try. And if in the end, nothing changed then you'll know you've done your best."

"But I don't want them to be bad." I sobbed. "I don't want to love someone cruel."

"Little lady, we love who we love," he said while hugging me. "There's nothing wrong with loving them."

_They will change, I won't leave them behind_. I continued crying until I fell asleep in the comfortable embrace of the right hand of the late Pirate King.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading!
> 
> So this is a little darker, a bit because everything until now has been sunshine and rainbows and every good story has struggles, but mostly because I had to show the interaction between the family and the common people. This felt so wrong writing, but if Celestial Dragons are as bad as Oda portrayed them then they'd behave like this. I'm sorry for making anyone uncomfortable.
> 
> Initially, I didn't plan to make her go to Sabaody and certainly not to let her meet Rayleigh but then the plot slipped away from me and here we are.😅 I gave Rayleigh a grandpa vibe. I don't know why, it just happened.
> 
> Spa Island is a filler island. It appeared between Thriller Bark and Sabaody, during which the most useless character ever created (Foxy) returned. Teatro Gulduno is a Venetian theatre, which I changed the vowels. The real one is Teatro Goldoni. According to the internet, the flowers I chose mean glory, purity and nobility. On the contrary, I created Walda Island based on Theme Park near my home where I often went as a birthday present. I might be reading the Silmarillion, but it's called research for the other story I'm writing.
> 
> On a completely different note, I've got good and bad news. Good news first, I've finished my exams so now I have more time to write. The bad news is that during this month I barely wrote, this is the last complete chapter I have. So, I'll probably be able to finish writing chapter 12 but then that's it. I'll probably take a little break after the next chapter. Sorry.
> 
> The next chapter will be titled: Return and Realization.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next week. 👋


	12. Return and Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'm going to apologize for how I first posted the last chapter. I don't know what was worse, the things happening in the chapter or my spelling. I don't know what to say, apparently I don't know how to write anymore. I'm really sorry for how I made you read it.  
> Also, I'm sorry I'm late, today was a busy day and I managed to get a hold on a computer only now.
> 
> Chapter 11:  
> After what happened when they set sail, Feli decided to distract Cas from meddling with the docking by asking him for target practice. Cas uses one of the sailors as the target and almost shoots him but Feli is able to redirect the shoot. Scared, she leaves him and hides in her room. Feli spends the four days on Spa Island avoiding her brother, Leo notices it and he's able to corner her only when they are leaving. They talk and they are things differently but in the end, Feli promised to start talking to Cas again. On the journey to Water 7, Cas starts learning from the commodore, under Feli's suggestion, how to helm a ship, but that lengthens the trip of one more day. They arrive at the city but the father continued on towards S. Poplar. That night the others went to a play where Victoria Cindry is the main protagonist, where Samael jokes about taking her as a slave. The day after they are guided through the construction site of the sea train, but Iceberg and Franky aren't there. After lunch, they rejoin the father, returned from the auction. They find him whipping the helmsman. Feli realizes that the delay caused her dad to lose the item he was searching so he was punishing the sailor for it. Feli feels sick, which caused the father to stop his punishment and come to her with worry while ordering to throw the helmsman overboard. After making sure that the sailor was still alive Feli faints. Now fearful of her family, Feli decides to keep quiet and just observe them. Nothing happens on Walda Island. The day after they arrived at Sabaody Feli and her mother go shopping. There the mother starts talking about how important family is, that with time she'll embrace their mentality and that normal people were barbaric. The next day they go to the auction. Before it starts, Feli's mom found the guy that bought the item, two shining jewels, in S. Poplar. She forcefully takes them, but in the struggle, the man managed to yank the mother's dress, which angers her. So she kills him in front of a watching Feli, after a call back to their conversation. Feli, traumatized, returned back to the auction and She managed to pay enough attention that she learned that those jewels where the people ashes transformed into their locale volcano. Feli feels sick again but this time she managed to keep everything down. Then She notices that now they were bidding slaves and the next one was Silver Rayleigh. She recognizes him and manages to acquire him. After they return to the hotel they talk to. Feli breaks down and tells everything that happened to Rayleigh, who let her cry and tells her that she can try to change them. She continued to cry in his arms until she falls asleep.
> 
> And that's pretty much it. If anyone finds something missing and tells me, they will be my new favorite person ever.

I woke up groggy and with puffy eyes. I was face down on the couch so I sat up. Looking out of the window I realized it was already evening, the clock over the mantle on the left wall signed well past 9 o’clock. Rayleigh was laying on the other couch, asleep with his cape/coat over him like a blanket. I gently tiptoed to the door, hungry and wanting something to eat.

“Little lady, where are you going?”

His voice, hoarse from sleeping, startled me. I turned around, wide-eyed and with a hand on my heart, and looked at him, still laying there with his eyes close.

“Uhm… I’m getting food?”

“You mean, getting the key,” he replied tapping his collar.

“You don’t want to stay?”

“Why should I?”

“...Because I asked you?”

“You never asked.”

“Stay... Please?” 

Rayleigh finally opened his eyes and eyeing me with the most deadpan look I ever received in both lives. We stayed there for a long moment, simply staring at each other.

“I’ll wait here for five minutes then I’ll leave,” he firmly said, sitting up. “Key or no key.”

“I’ll give you 500000 Bellies to stay.”

The Dark King tilted his head. “Why are you so bent on keeping me here?”

“Because you are a walking legend. It’d be foolish for me to let you go without talking. I bet even one day with you would help me in one way or another.”

“Go get the key. And food,” he sighed after a pause. ”I’ll keep the key and you’ll pay me tomorrow.”

He flopped back on the couch and I skipped to the door to call someone, smiling. Now I only needed to think about what to ask him.

* * *

The next day after breakfast, my family split up again: my parents went to the shopping district while the kids head back to the amusement park. I decided to stay at the Blooming Forest, not so keen on watching them lording and/or terrorizing people. Besides, I had Rayleigh. The previous night, I spent a long while thinking about what to ask him. I didn't want any 'spoilers' on the Will of D, the Great Kingdom, Joy Boy and the Void Century, it felt like I already knew too much about it and I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face in front of the Gorōsei if I knew more. _Maybe in the future, after Luffy becomes Pirate King, I'll find Robin and ask her._

Since the history lesson was out, I was going to get tips on Haki. We went into the woods (a few of the retainers, some guards and butlers, tried to follow but I dismissed them) and, when we were far enough from everyone and everything, he started teaching me. We started with Armament.

First, he made me explain what I did and how I trained, then I had to show him. My Busoshoku wasn't perfect: I could keep the black only for a few minutes. Ray gave me some advice (concentrate on the part that I want to harden, imagine my strength and willpower flowing in that part) then he gave me a demonstration. It was amazing and surreal. He gently tapped one of the trees with one of his fingers and created a hole on it, he waved his hand and that tree toppled, he picked up a strand of grass and cut the tree in half. It was the most supernatural thing I’ve seen since I’ve come here and yes, there were the amazons and Morgans, but Rayleigh was supposed to be a normal human being.

After that, we switched to Observation. We repeated the same process: my explanation followed by me showing him what I could do. Which was disappointing. He was throwing small pebbles at me and I always reacted a moment too late.

“I think you’re cheating your way into it,” he stated after the umpteenth gravel scraped my cheek.

“Can you do that?”

“Apparently, yes. So have you any ideas on how you do it?”

I pondered it for a few minutes, then said: “The only thing that comes to mind is my Devil Fruit. I can sense the mind of others with it, but it's a completely different feeling from Haki.”

"Yet your reactions are slow."

I stayed quiet, not knowing how to respond.

“Well, since there’s nothing else,” he sighed. “I’ll take my money and be on my way.”

I looked up at him, slightly pouting. “That’s it? You don’t have any other suggestions?”

“Sorry, little lady, but my wife is anxiously waiting for me.”

_Bullshit._

Since I knew that I couldn’t forcibly keep him (and I didn’t want him to hate me, that would be bad) I started walking back to the hotel, dragging my feet.

“Any last advice?” I asked when we were in sight of the buildings.

“Try suppressing your powers when you use Kenbunshoku.”

“Do I have to?” I whined.

He didn’t respond and continued to walk with a gentle smile. _Great, the circlet of shame does a comeback._

We arrived at our building and I went to my room. When we arrived at Spa Island my parents gave each of us children a checkbook ‘so that if we wanted to buy something on our own’ ( _because which seven-year-old doesn’t need a checkbook, right?_ ). I took it and filled a cheque.

“Well, it was nice meeting you,” I said giving him the money. 

“You are an interesting World Noble, little lady. I hope there’ll be more like you in the future.”

“Yes, well, I’ll work on that.” We arrived at the door, Rayleigh passed it and I stepped on the threshold. “Can you give a message to Shanks?”

He was a few steps away from the door but turned around and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“The way he draws out his sword is awkward, he should switch side.”

“He’s left-handed.”

“Oh, I don’t mean now. You’ll know when,” I said with a too-sweet voice, starting to close the door. “And say hi to Shakky for me!”

I quickly closed the door and retreated to the main chamber where the butlers and guards were _. If he can be a stingy asshole, I can be a cryptic one._

I plopped on one of the couches and looked at the ceiling. I eyed the clock, it was barely midday, but I still decided to have lunch. After that, I went back into my room and entered my mind apartment. Bored, I flopped on the bed and started watching/remembering a few of my favorite shows.

* * *

A series of forceful knocks brought me out of my mind space. I didn’t even manage to stand up before guards and one maid started pouring in the room. Some of the guards surrounded me while others started checking the room. It was weird and I was slightly preoccupied. _Did they find out? Do they know that I hate the World Government?_

“I’m immensely sorry, Your Holiness,” said the maid. “Your father instructed us to ensure your safety and keep you here until they arrive. I humbly ask you to collaborate.”

“What happened? Are they coming back?”

“I don’t have the permission to tell you, Saint Felicia. I apologize,” she answered, bowing. “And yes, both your parents and brothers are being escorted back here.”

I looked around me. The guards had finished inspecting the room and now three other maids were in the process of packing.

“We are leaving? Didn’t mom say that we were staying for five days?”

“There are some… unforeseen events that require the immediate attention of Saint Aurelio and Saint Lucilla.”

_Unforeseen events? What cou... Oh my God. He came. He came and I wasn’t there._ My eyes widened. I put my head on my hands and rested my elbows on my legs. L climbed on the bed and cuddled up to me. _No, wait. I have to confirm things first, I can't Jump to conclusions. I need to wait for my dad._

So I stayed there, clutching on my puppy and waiting for my parents. The other Kids arrived first, Cas and Sam complaining that they had to cut their fun short. They were pouring and in another situation, I would be

worried about the people around them but now I was thinking about something else. Finally, my parents arrived and started immediately barking orders to get things moving.

"Dad," I called, going up to him still scratching behind L's ear. "What happened?"

"Not now, dear. We need to go home."

"But..."

"Later, Felicia!" He roared.

I jolted back, he never yelled at me. Even when I ate the Devil Fruit he didn't shout. My heart sank into my stomach. I tried asking mom but she also dismissed me, not so fiercely as my father but she still didn’t tell me anything. My brothers and Samael didn’t also know what happened but weren’t so worried. Leo, noticing my distress, took me aside and tried to distract me.

After a couple of hours, we were ready to go, but this was different from the other times we left an island. A troop of marines came to escort us and the guards we already had completely surrounded us, the Aegis agent as a spearhead. We weren’t allowed to rent the bubble bikes (which angered Cas more, but dad quickly reprimed him) and we swiftly made way to the Lycaon. There the ship was already preparing for our departure and Commodore Jae quickly came, taking dad aside. I wanted to go with them but mom pushed us into our cabins. We all protested for the treatment (Cas and I the loudest) but she firmly kept us inside. After some time dad joined us whispered something to mom and then, finally addressed us. “Children, we are returning home. Early this morning Mary Geoise was brutally attacked by an evil fish. Your family is fine, Samael, I received word that they are safe. A little bit spooked, but completely fine. The majority of our pets, however, dared to defy us and flee with the monster. We will immediately return home to assess the situation but I’m sure everything will be resolved quickly.”

We were all stunned. Sam looked like he was on the verge of crying, worried about his family, so I went up to him and hugged him. He was slightly trembling so I hugged him tighter and tried to reassure him with gentle whispers.

“How long will it take to get back?” asked Leo.

“We’ll be at the Red Port in the morning. Don’t worry, Samael,” responded dad, “you’ll see them soon.”

Then he left. We walked up to one of the beds, Cas’, sat there. I was still hugging him, Leo decided to go get some board games while Cas found a butler and asked for food. We stayed there, playing and eating well into the night, trying to cheer our friend up, then we decided to sleep altogether, not wanting to leave Samael alone. 

_So this was the year that Tiger came. Figures that he would come when I wasn’t there. I only hope that they escaped safely._

* * *

We arrived at the Red Port early in the morning, barely after the sunrise. Even before we entered the dockings security was raised: many more ships were patrolling the access, at least double the amount compared with when we left. The docks were stripped down and damaged, the only ships there were those with animals figurehead. The nasty feeling of the day before, that never left, worsened.

We left the ship and made our way to the Bonbolas. The small city between the harbor and the Bondola station was destroyed. I took Sam’s hand and squeezed it. _Why do I have the feeling that I won’t like what I’m going to see?_

Only one of the two Bondolas was working, the number 4. We couldn’t go on the deck on top, for security measure and because there was a hole in it. the guards always escorting us never let us leave the protective circle they formed around us, which contributed to the tense and quickly worsening atmosphere.

We arrived at the top and I clutched Sam’s hand even tighter. If the Red port was destroyed, Mary Geoise was in ruins. The travelators were completely broken, metal bending upward and stone scattered in sharp edges all around. The flora, both of the wood surrounding the city and that carefully planted, was fallen or burned or both. Bullets, blood and burnt marks littered the ground. Pangea Castle had one of his walls collapsed and you could see inside (a small section compared to the whole building but still, a portion of the Socializing Plaza was inaccessible). The Celestial Dragon Gate was ruined and the bridge was only just standing, we crossed it quickly. All the mansions were damaged in some way or another, guards and butlers were keeping watch and trying to clear the debris. None of them was a slave. _Did they escape? Are they okay? Were they injured? Oh God, oh God, I left three teenagers and a child in the middle of a battlefield._

We first brought Samael to his home. The moment he could see his house, he let my hand go and sprinted his way inside. At first, the guards didn’t realize who it was and drew their weapons but they quickly recognized him and let him through. He didn’t look back to say goodbye but I don’t think anyone was offended by it. So we went home.

We arrived at the front gate, bent outward and partially stoned. People, none of which was a slave, were cleaning up and Klaus, who was waiting for us right outside the door, quickly approached us. He was the one that managed the house, the slaves and our employees (guards and non-guards). He bowed to dad and started explaining the situation, I wanted to stay and find out what happened but mom pushed us inside and ordered some maids to find something to entertain us.

We were brought to one of the sitting rooms, unwillingly and with loudly protesting. The maids brought some books and a few snacks but we didn’t touch them. Leo was in front of one of the windows, looking out at the people working outside. Cas was angrily walking up and down the room, complaining and growling. I was sitting in the armchair, staring silently at the games and food in front of me.

“Shut up.”

Cas stopped pacing and looked at me. “What?”

“I said shut up.”

“Why should I? Those filthy animals destroyed our city, our home! We should capture them and kill them all!”

“Because this is what happens when you oppress people! This is what happens when there’s slavery! Do you think that this will be a one-time thing? Now that someone managed to do it there will be others that will try and maybe next time there will be victims, so shut up.”

“We already told you, this is the natural order of things, Feli,” sighed Leo from the window.

“No, it isn’t! If it were, there wouldn’t be slavers or people escaping. People would beg to become our slaves, instead, they are kidnapped and sold into it.”

“So what, we should just let them go? They destroyed our house!” Retorted Cas.

“At least they didn’t shoot us. Or whipped us to death,” I bit back. With a sigh, I continued, “look, we can continue like this all day but remains the fact that when they had the chance to get away, they took it. From us, the ‘gods of this world’. Doesn’t that mean that something must change?”

“Yes, we must make sure that nobody can get here and do it again!”

“No, Cas. It means that there’s something wrong with how things work right now and we should change them or we will face something like this again.”

“Why do you want so much to change?” asked Leo.

_ Because we will die if we don’t _ . “Because people are people. And people deserve respect, wherever they are born.”

“...You spent too much time alone in your garden house with those pets,” he sighed after a pause.

I was about to reply to that when our parents entered the room, followed by Klaus. They immediately noticed the tense atmosphere. “Now is not the time for your bickering. 97% of the slaves in the city are gone, only the injured or sick ones remain. The World Government identified the fish that did it and tomorrow they’ll announce his bounty. Now we will retire on the western side of the house, the least damaged, and stay there until the reconstruction works are done.”

We nodded and I raised my hand. “Can I go to my garden house?”

Dad nodded, so I took off with two guards following me. It was mostly intact, being on the western side, but people came and looted things. Nothing with sentimental value but the chaos reminded me of the time when Hancock trashed it. _ I guess it needed another renovation. _

I sighed and when to the rooms the amazons and Koala used. They were empty apart from the furniture too big to take in an escape. I hoped that they took some of the priceless knick-knacks that used to decorate the house.  _ I should have prepared some money for them. _

I went to my bedroom here, the guards were still following me but I stopped them, convinced them that my room was safe and I could stay there without them. They stayed outside the door, I could feel them.

I lied on the bed, L at the foot of it, staring at the ceiling. I was wondering what they were doing if they were injured and hoping that they ran away together. Then I remembered all that happened here, the time I spent playing, practicing, eating and talking with them. I was alone now. They were gone and hopefully they would never come back, but I still felt alone.  _ Get a grip, Felicia. What are you complaining about? Until yesterday you were insulting Fisher Tiger because he wasn’t here and now that he came you are still not happy? What would you prefer if the girls stayed? They would have hated you and they would have been in danger now when every Tenryūbito lost their slave. Besides, you are an adult, you don’t need a bunch of children to keep you occupied. _

I sat up and rummaged in the bedside table until I found the circlet. Time to practice the  Color of Observation Haki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading!
> 
> You have no idea how hard it was to restrain myself from writing _Last Time On Adrift Mind..._ (and reading it in my head with a dragon ball narrator voice) at the beginning of the first note.
> 
> A bit of short I know, but the last one was longer than usual.
> 
> Surprise! Tiger came when they weren't there. Before you lynch me, let me explain why. Feli is a seven-year-old girl with no combat experience whatsoever. She's kind of impulsive and really wants to help, so she would try to help the slaves run away. So in a desperate situation, where people are running for their lives, they see one of their oppressors trying to guide them somewhere, there's no way in hell they'll follow her. On the contrary, they'd probably attack her. So the only way to keep her alive and still have Fisher Tiger happen was to remove Feli. Thus, the previous chapter came to be. I didn't plan it to go that way, nor for it to be that long, but it happened.
> 
> When I started writing the first chapter, I thought I would reach the slave liberation in 5/6 chapters at most. This is the twelfth. LOL, how naivë was I. 🙈
> 
> Also with this chapter, I consider the "prelude" of the story completed. While this part focused on setting the scene, Feli and her family, the next ones will be more about the world. At least, that's my intention.
> 
> As I said in the previous chapter, this will be the last one for a bit. I want to say one month, but it could also be until the start of September. I'll try to be good and pick it back up in August tho. 
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you next month. 👋


	13. Restart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but hey, it's not the 15th, so it's still the start of September. *finger guns*
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Apparently, Rayleigh was right ( _of course, he was_ ): I _did_ cheat my way through Observation. It seemed that when I tried to use Haki, I would first subconsciously send a gentle little wave to sense where the mind of other people was and then focus on them with Haki. It was frustrating and disappointing, a year of training went down the drain just like that, but at the same time I was relieved that I caught this behavior, dangerous if I wanted to have a more active role in the future (and I certainly did), and I could start correcting it. In my defense, I didn't have any previous experience with Haki and the way it's supposed to feel, so the fact that I made a mistake was understandable if not predictable. And, to be fair, I still considered the Before normal, thus I had to make a conscious effort to use Haki or my powers. _I guess I know what I have to work on now._

I opened my eyes and found L at the feet of the bed, chewing one of his toys. I panicked for a split second, fearing what the circlet would do to our connection, then I realized that my lake was frozen solid all the way through. I could still feel the Fruit's power, and consequently our link, but I just couldn't access it. I never noticed it before but it felt weird. Really really weird.

I took the circlet off, the ice melted and I stood up. I was hungry and wanted to see what the situation was, so I patted my tight to call L. The garden house was silent, eerily so. It was offputting considering that just a month ago, I could hear and feel the girls around.

As soon as I was out of the door I was flanked by the two guards. Both L and I were startled, he even barked and snapped his jaw at them. I nodded and patted L’s head, trying to calm him. “Where are the others?”

“I believe they are having lunch, Holy One,” answered the guard on my right.

So we started walking to the mansion. At first, I tried to go to the usual dining room but the guards informed me it was damaged and rerouted me to the closed terrace on the third floor. It took me a few moments to remember which one they were talking about because it was one of the less used places of the house. 

My family was already eating when we arrived. I sat in my usual place, between mom and Leo, and the servants quickly brought my dish. The air was tense. Leo was poking his food, Cas wasn’t trying to choke on his, Mom was trying to fill the silence with ideas on what to to do with the things we bought and dad wasn’t even pretending to eat, simply staring at his plate. I decided to ignore them and started eating, they needed the wake-up call and I wasn’t going to humor them and pretend to be also angry.

“Why were you late?” Asked dad, interrupting mom and setting his eyes on me.

“Homework,” I answered without raising my head.

“Now’s not the time for homework. We've been attacked."

_Oh, really? I didn't notice_. I bit my tongue and just refrained from saying it. I settled for a more polite answer. "It's not a surprise it happened."

"Oh? Care to elaborate that?"

I finally looked at him. I saw the suppressed fury in his eyes. In other circumstances, I would have tried to defuse the situation, but not now. Now that fury reminded me of him whipping the helmsman, of my frustration for their behavior. And I was so tired of pretending to be like them.

"We live in a dystopian world. You consider people cattle to use and butcher whenever you want. No, even cattle are treated better than that, at least you don't kill the cow that gives you milk. A society built on fear and oppression will fall sooner or later. People will endure it so much before they realize that they should band together and rebel instead of continuing to suffer."

“Do you… support that criminal? He destroyed our home, our city!” He asked disbelievingly, incredulity and horror painted on his face and voice.

“I’m saying that it was inevitable. The way that things are, it was going to happen. Now that it did, it’s going to happen again. It may be in a couple of weeks or in ten years, but it will. And maybe next time they won’t come just to free some slaves, but also to kill us.” I could see him shaking and his rage starting to spill, but I didn't care. I just wanted to stop lying to them. "You need to take a good look at yourself and ask: is being a tyrannical asshole to the majority of people a good thing? And when you realize that the answer is no, it isn't, you will change. If you don't, then you are going to sink at the bottom of the ocean. If you survive the destruction of Mary Geoise, that is."

"Felicia!" Exclaimed mom.

My father slammed his hands on the tablet and stood up. His chair screeched back and wobbled, threatening to fall but stayed up. "That's it, young lady!" He yelled, face red with anger. "I won't stand this disrespect! You are not only insulting our status, but also the work of our ancestors and our family! Go to your room and think about your words!"

He was panting and glaring at me, while I simply watched him, my teeth grinding. Silence reigned for a few moments. I put down my fork, wiped my mouth and stood up. I walked to the door, L trailing after me. The servants and guards were frozen in shock and fear and couldn't open the door for me. "You have the emotional capacity of a peanut but I hope with all of my being that it'll change," I said before closing it.

I was walking down the hallway lost in my thoughts, my puppy was staying close to me feeling my distress. _That wasn't smart, I should have kept my mouth shut. Now I'm gonna get grounded and they know that I have revolutionary ideas. If someone asks the right questions then I could really get in trouble. Too many people heard that. You are so stupid, Felicia._

Along the way, a guard noticed me and decided to escort me since I was alone. We arrived at my room and I lied down on the bed. L started whimpering and whining, but I wanted to be alone. “Not now L, go find Koala or something.”

I realized my mistake only after finishing the phrase and an awkward silence descended in the room. I sat up, sighed and rubbed my face. _Damn it._

“Guard, take my dog out for a couple of hours to play.”

The guard obeyed and left with a bow. Only after he closed the door I flopped back down, looking at the ceiling without seeing it. _One step forward, two steps back._

  
  


* * *

  
  


I remained in my room for the rest of the day. The butler who brought me my dinner informed me that I was forbidden from leaving the bedroom until I apologized. It sucked, but I wasn't going to say sorry anytime soon. 

So I spent the next few days practicing my Devil Fruit and Haki. For the former, I originally thought about asking the girls for help, but things changed. So I settled to experimenting on myself, L and the occasional servant that came to check on me. It wasn't ideal, but beggars and all of that. I focused on hallucinations and on being aware of my surroundings. To make the illusion work, I needed to have a clear view of what I wanted: I couldn't just think "there's a blue circle there" and expect it to be believable. I needed to specify the size, the shade of blue and the exact position of the circle. And that was only to make a purple circle seem real, I still needed to add the other senses. I found out that writing it down, even only mentally, helped a lot.

In addition, to make people hallucinate, I had to feed the sheet of paper in their minds. At first, I had the paper melt into the pool but that made everyone in my range see the circle (I could feel their confusion), so I imagined a slit where the selected mind was and slipped it in. Finally, I was able to produce illusions. However it needed to be as realistic as possible to be sufficiently effective and it wasn't something that could be used quickly, since I had to make sure everything seemed real. And when people tried to interact with my visions they realized they were fake.

The other part of Devil Fruit Power training was simultaneously more difficult and easier than the first one. I quickly realized that if I tied my heartbeat to my mind scan I could constantly be aware of where people were. The problem was that there was too much information: if I did that, I was constantly bombarded with info on the whereabouts of everyone in a 250m radius. So I started practicing it only when I had something easy or not mentally challenging to do. I needed to make it a white noise, which was difficult when I was continuously switching between Fruit Power training and Haki training with the goddamned circlet. 

Speaking of which, I was also working on Haki, Observation mostly. This training was slow, slower than my usual: my instinct was to use my mind scan first, but I couldn't anymore. At the end of the week, I finally showed some progress: for a split second, I could see the silhouettes of people outside. It was just an instant and the moment my mind was aware of that, it snapped back, realizing the strangeness of it. Nevertheless, I jumped around in joy, with my hands in the air. I wanted to show it to the amazons. Then I remembered they were gone.

At the end of the week, I was still confined to my room and I was starting to go crazy. My room had a balcony, and I could see the city beginning to recover, but I wanted to go outside. During the week, my mom had come to try to convince me to apologize but I refused. Cas and Leo also came (less to persuade me and more to see me) but after the third time, they were banned.

So after much agonizing and thinking, I decided to swallow my pride and finally talk to dad. Not that I was going to be sincere (or happy about it) but I rationalized it as the only way to keep helping: I couldn't do much from my bedroom.

So now I was in front of my father’s study, grinding my teeth with L on my side. I felt like this scene already happened once, but this time L, feeling my discomfort, was being quiet. Steeling my resolve, I sighed and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

I entered and walked up to the desk. He was reading a book, but after a few seconds of me being silent, he closed it and looked at me. “Well, is there something you’d like to say?”

"I'm sorry," I said without meeting his gaze.

"Sorry for what?"

I sighed. _Of course, he isn't going to make it easy._

I looked up and stared at him. "I'm sorry for saying things I shouldn't have." _Said to people without conscience._

He stayed quiet for a long moment before speaking again. "Do you understand why it was wrong?"

"Yes."

He continued to stare at me, silently asking me to elaborate.

"It was wrong of me to say that the World Government is bad." _When you are unable to understand why._

He studied me for a few more seconds, peering into my eyes and trying to see if I was sincere, but I wasn't lying, I was omitting. Eventually, he sighed, stood up and walked up to me.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice, dear." He said, kneeling and hugging me tightly. "I shouldn't have, it was a horrible day and what you said sounded like it was justified. I promise I won't do it again, can you forgive me?"

I squeezed him back and nodded.

"Thank you," he answered softly and he kissed my temple while picking me up. "Now, let's go invite your mother to a stroll in the garden. The black-eyed Susans have started to bloom and I'm sure they'll be lovely."

I nodded my head and buried my face in his neck. I didn't feel any better than when I was outside the study.

  
  


* * *

  
  


After a couple more weeks the house was functional again. My lessons also resumed and life returned to normal. Both Samael and Mjosgard came to see us and I visited Amare. They were all livid (Mjosgard the most because of all the effort he put on training his pets). After a bit of probing, I found out that Amare was mostly mad about the destruction than anything else. Which was good in my opinion. These visits, however, were always in the presence of guards since we still were on high alert, so I couldn't encourage her behavior too much, unfortunately.

On the other hand, I spent more time with the other kids (and Mjosgard) than ever both in my house or theirs. It was fun and I learned much about them (Samael hated pork, Mjosgard would rated die than wear orange and Amare showed me her secret candy stash in the loose tile of her walk-in wardrobe).

I found a new routine: in the morning I had my kanji and lessons, in the afternoon I visited my friends or they visited and after dinner, I exercised and practiced my powers.

I was restless, however. Every time I looked at the garden and saw the house I thought about the girls and worried about them. I just wanted to know if they were okay, but I couldn't ask anyone. I didn't want to contact anyone for fear of putting a target on me or them. So I stayed put. But it was hard. I even considered visiting the Gorōsei but on second thought, they were probably too busy for me.

During this time my mother asked me what I wanted to do with my garden house since the main building was almost finished. The house wasn’t too damaged (maybe because the amazons weren’t angry with me, maybe because it was a little more secluded) but it still needed some fixing. I evaded the question mostly, I didn’t want to change it and I wasn’t using it so it wasn’t important. I avoided going near there or looking at it, it felt cold and empty, but it was the place where I was the most honest and renovating it felt like I had to let that go too.

I was probably being stupid, it just was a building, not a living being, but until I was forced to I wasn't going to do it.

Days passed, almost a month after we returned home, and an invite to me from the Five Elders arrived. So the next day, after my lessons, I went to Pangea Castle. The city was slowly recovering: the roads were cleared of all debris and the mansions were almost completely rebuilt. There were still no slaves around: troops of guards and small groups of servants were the only ones walking up and down every street.

When I arrived at the castle someone was there to escort me, which was strange considering that it wasn’t my first time there but I filed that under the high alert stuff. The Gorōsei were waiting for me in one of the dining rooms and after I sat down between Tokitomo and Apollon (the one with the birthmark on his head), we started eating.

“We apologize for not seeing you earlier, but well, things happened. How was your vacation?” Asked Friedrich (the youngest looking one) who was seated in front of me, after a few seconds of silence.

“Good, I guess,” I shrugged, biting one raviolo. It was divine: you could taste the spinach but the butter mellowed it down and the sage gave it a herbal and fresh aftertaste. “We had to cut it short but luckily we were already at the end of it.”

“Yes, terrible event,” chimed in Barnabas (the long-haired one). “Those slaves destroyed much of Mary Geoise and we are working hard to repair everything.”

I nodded, not knowing how to respond. I also noticed that they were very focused on me. My appetite disappeared.

“I’m sure your parents had a lot to do when you returned, considering the state of your house,” said Tokitomo.

“Oh, but I heard that the garden house was less damaged, fortunately,” stated Friedrich. “I imagine you all stayed there when the house was inhabitable.”

“The west part of the house was still in a good state so we stayed there,” I mumbled.

“Nevertheless, you were really lucky, other houses were completely destroyed,” said Apollon. “I wonder why....”

_ Oh. Oh fuck. _ I quickly looked down on my plate and put a few more ravioli in my mouth. I hoped they didn’t see the panic in my eyes or my hand squeezing the fork.  
  


“Probably because you weren’t there,” stated, after a long heavy pause, Faust (the one with the dreadlock and hat).

“Let’s change the subject, this isn’t appropriate for lunch between friends. So, tell us, What did you do this last month?”

“Nothing much,” I managed to say, barely avoiding to stutter. “I studied and saw my friends.”

“Anything else?” asked Barnabas.

“No, nothing,” I answered, meeting the gaze of Friedrich.

Another drawn-out silence, then finally the tense atmosphere in the room disappeared. Their posture relaxed slightly and they weren’t staring at me anymore. Tokitomo put his hands on my left shoulder, startling me. 

“Well, did you like your present?” he asked, with a gentle smile on his face.

The rest of the lunch went smoothly with no subtle interrogation, but I couldn’t fully relax. I’ pretty sure they knew I lied but I didn’t know why they didn’t call me out. After eating, they brought me to the damaged side of the castle and asked my opinion on how to decorate it. I wanted the visit to end as soon as possible but it seemed to drag out and I felt that they would prevent me from fleeing.

Since usually, my visits were shorter I felt confident in asking them if they were busy. They shushed me and said that they cleared out their afternoon for me.

Joy. So I endured it.

They let me go only several hours later with smiles on their faces and waving me. I felt like I was giving my back to a school of sharks.

When I was back home I went to my room in the garden house, without thinking. It was still messy, and I was too tired even for the short trek to the main building. I flopped down my bed and stayed there. After calming a little I began to mull over what happened. They obviously knew what I said, but they didn’t imprison me.  


I huffed,  _ focusing on that won’t help, they simply didn’t so don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I need to be more careful from now on. _

I turned on my side and looked down the hallway. I could hear my own heartbeat and I shivered from the cold. I turned on the other side and slipped into the covers, it wasn’t any warmer but I managed to fall asleep even if it was restless slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading!
> 
> Long time no see! I'm sorry I'm a lil' bit late, but life started again where I'm from so I had a little less time to write. But now I'm back! Sorta. I'm probably going to change the schedule from weekly to every other week. I'm sorry. I'm very very sorry but I don't think I can keep up the previous schedule, but I want to have one both for you and for me so I'm taking a week more to write.
> 
> On another note, hi to everybody new! I didn' think that even after months without updates the kudos and bookmark counts would still rise. Honestly, I rarely scroll past the last month updates when I search, so this is a nice surprise. 😀
> 
> The title refers both to the aftermath of Fisher Tiger and my return to posting.  
> ...So the first part wasn't planned. At all. It just happened and I couldn't stop writing it.
> 
> Also. Raviolo. For the love of everything good, it's one raviolo, not one ravioli. It's like saying one chairs. You don't say one chairs, you say one chair. I won't accept criticism on that.
> 
> If you are wondering why the Five Elders didn't imprison her it's mainly for two reasons: 1) she's a celestial dragon, her family knew where she went and if they arrested one of them with only circumstantial evidence then I think all of the Tenryūbito would revolt 2) she's a kid and they wouldn't think a 7-years-old could orchestrate an incident of such proportion or be in leagues with Tiger without their knowledge.
> 
> The next few chapters are going to be a bit OC heavy. The thing is the only relevant event that happens in 1510 is that Bepo falls off of Zunisha, so I'm using this time for character development. In my notes, I wrote a training montage. It's gonna be a training montage. Expect nothing but a training montage.
> 
> Again, thank you for reading and see you in two weeks!


	14. Playing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, but I was out of town 'till half an hour ago. After last time, I'd rather die than post from the phone again.  
> Also, the centered text are the illusions she creates. You'll understand, I hope.
> 
> Enjoy!

The next few weeks I walked on eggshells. I was trying my best to be the exemplary Celestial Dragon and act normal. I wasn't sure if it was convincing, but I was scared and stressed and I couldn't think of anything better.

My friends caught on my general moodiness, so I stopped visiting. My family also noticed my jumpiness and didn't seem satisfied with my attempts of assuring them I was fine. I was blunt and short with them, which made them question me more so I started isolating myself, which made me feel more alone and anxious and stressed.

The Five Elders invited me again but since I wouldn’t be able to keep my composure, I declined their invitation with an excuse.

All of that helped me to find out more about the Mind Mind Fruit. It seemed like the more I was under duress, the less control I had on my power: during the day when I was feeling particularly bad, I could feel the levers in the control room slowly fading into mist. It was terrifying and I started to always bring the circlet with me again. At least I found out something new about my powers, right?

In short, I became a recluse. I spent the majority of my time in my room training or reliving memories. In fact, I was doing just that when I felt myself being shaken. So, I exited my mind apartment and opened my eyes. I was lying on the couch of my balcony with Leo in front of me.

“Come on, Feli, wake up. We have to show you something,” he said gently with a little smile.

“What?”

“A present. Something to make you happier. And to get you moving, you’re sleeping more than me lately.”

“I’m not sleeping,” I mumbled while sitting up.

“Right. You are just resting your eyes,” he replied while quickly tidying my hair. “You should keep this tied up. You’ll look cute.”

I looked at him horrified and he snorted. I batted his hands away and we were off. We were descending the stairs when Leo took my hand and tugged it to get my attention. “Mom bought you new pets. She thinks they’ll make you happy.”

I stopped but still kept holding his hand. He was a few steps down so we were eye level. “Why did you tell me? She would like to keep it a surprise.”

“Because she was with dad and never saw you scurry to them every afternoon. Cas and I did. You got attached to them and replacing them won’t help. Even worse, it could anger you.”

After a moment where I looked deep into his eyes, I squeezed his hand and started walking down the last steps. “When did you become so wise?”

“I think you are confusing me with Cas. I was always the wise twin. And the smart one. And coolest.”

“...The blondest, the handsomest, the big mouthest...”

“Hey!”

He let my hand go and lightly shoved me. I giggled and started running away, he chased me. I would have probably outrun him but he was taller than me and managed to catch me and throw me on a couch. He tickled me, I squirmed trying to get away.

“Say you are sorry. Say it.”

“Never!”

He stopped tickling me, took my neck under his arm and rubbed his knuckles on the top of my head.

“Alright, alright, you win.” I proclaimed still laughing. “Let me go.”

“What was that?”

“I apologize to thee, Oh Holiest One, may ye find mercy in thy heart for this humble one.”

"Smartass."

After that he let me sit up and looked at me weirdly. "What?"

"Nothing. It's been a while since I heard you laugh like that. The vacation was supposed to spend time together as a family but it seems like it only made you distance from us instead."

I didn't know how to answer so I stayed silent and stood up. We resumed walking and he guided me to the garden house.

There my mom, Cas and four collared girls were waiting for me. Mom was smiling excitedly, my oldest brother was also smiling, more insecurely however and trying to gauge my reaction while the slaves were trembling on the side with their heads down. I didn’t even need to scan their mind to feel their fear and hopelessness.

I looked at Leo, who grimaced and shrugged. I sighed and half smiled at Cas, who relaxed and smiled back more at ease

“Feli, sweetie, you are here!” Mom exclaimed, opening her arms and walking up to hug me. “Come, look. Do you like them? They are your new pets. Don’t worry, they are well trained and won’t run away like those ungrateful ones.”

She picked me up and brought me to the quivering girls, three teenagers and the last one no more than ten years old.

“Oof, you are getting bigger. I don’t think I’ll be able to pick you up for much longer. Do you like them?” She asked sweetly. Then her eyes turned cold and she addressed the poor girls. “Raise your head and look at your new owner. You will be loyal or you will end up like the rest of your village.”

  
  


They obeyed and I could finally see their face. They all resembled my friends but their spirit was as broken as Koala’s when I first got her. The youngest one, a redhead was quietly sobbing and firmly squeezing one of the teenagers’ hands, another redhead. From the shape of their eyes and jaw, the two seemed siblings. The oldest redhead was holding her tears back, trying to put on a brave face unsuccessfully. The black-haired one was the tallest and was persistently avoiding my gaze. The last girl, a teenager with aquamarine hair (that tended towards blue more than green), was simply unresponsive, staring at me with dead eyes.

All four were skin and bones with hollowed cheeks and bags under their eyes.

I turned my head away, not wanting to look at them any longer. Now I was facing my brothers. Leo’s scowl was deeper and Cas looked at me worried again. I sighed and closed my eyes.

“Can I go?” I said after counting to ten.

“You don’t like them, sweetheart? We can change them if you want. Things aren’t back to normal yet, but we can still find the right pets for you.”

“They are fine,” I answered a bit exasperated. “Is that all?”

She let me down and her smile vanished from her face for a second, but she picked it back up immediately. “Of course not! Let us show you our new garden house!”

Hearing that, I looked at m brothers. Leo shrugged, frown gone, and Cas resumed smiling and skipped ahead to open the door.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The garden house was similar yet completely different from what I remembered. I could recognize where Koala used to study but the room was now pastel yellow instead of blue, I found the couch on which Hancock was seated when she called me menace but it was now red, the room where the amazons slept was now divided into two smaller ones. It was weird and painful, especially since I still didn’t know if they were okay.

Other rooms were completely new: I had now a basement as big as the rest of the house stuffed with gm equipment (“We saw you running laps around the house,” mom explained. “But you haven’t done it since we returned. Maybe this will make you want to start again”).

It was a thoughtful and sweet present. Well, slaves notwithstanding. Speaking of which, I put them in there and left them on their own. I visited a couple of times but they were terrified of me so I left them alone. I didn’t like it but I didn’t know what to do: the Gorgons were the ones to calm Koala when she was still afraid of me I tended to stay on the sidelines trying to look as least frightening as possible when she had one of her episodes or even go away.

I was thinking about freeing them. Just take them to the Red Port, give them some money and let them go, but they were traumatized minors in no state, physically, mentally or else, to go anywhere that wasn’t to therapy, to a physician, to a nutritionist or all the above. Heck, even then they would still have scars on their body and psyche that wouldn’t go away. In the end, I just let them be.

Since I couldn’t solve that problem, I turned my attention towards another recurrent, more pressing one: my family’s view of the world. I mulled over it for days, I didn’t know what to do. I thought about using my Fruit’s power (take their memory book and make them feel like they were being wrong and guilty for every time they hurt someone) but that felt like a defeat, like the only way to make them good was to fall on their level. It was an option but I wanted them to change because they realized it was wrong not because I forced them. And I didn’t know if I could live with the knowledge that I forced them to change because their behavior didn’t suit me. 

I needed them to look at things from the other side. Which is difficult considering that they were proud Tenryūbito and would never even think about it in real life.

I was in one of the libraries reflecting and trying to find a solution when a thought struck me. _Oh my lord, I’m a genius. But I need to practice._

I quickly searched for a pen and a blank notebook to jot down ideas.

_There’s no point in complicating things so I’ll use Earth_. I wrote down ‘world: Earth’.

_I need to find a story with censorship and slavery and I don’t think I’ll find something here so I’ll scan my memory later._ I scribbled below world ‘setting: search memory’. _I can pull characters from other stories so that’s settled. Now onto the technical part. Hallucinations are good but everyone has seen the videos of people falling while using VR, so I need to find a way to avoid that._

I tapped the page with the pen. _I could emulate sleep paralysis without the fear part. I just need to separate their consciousness from their body. That’ll need time and lots of practicing, however._

  
  


I didn’t have a better idea so I just wrote down ‘how: paralysis’.

Since now I had a game plan (ah!) I immediately started practicing with the help of L. It took me weeks to make it work, it was more complex than anything I had previously tried. In short, I needed to cut the connection between the cortex of the brain and the spinal cord, making sure, however, that the body kept functioning, but at the same time emulate it without letting the body move. Eventually, I would add the illusions but I wasn't anywhere near that level of expertise.

Moreover, it took even longer because I didn’t want to scare my dog, so I only worked on it for half an hour before stopping.

The approach I used for this experiment was different from the usual. From my pool I visualized a pillar rising up. I imagined separating it in the voluntary nervous system on the top and the automatic on the bottom. If I separated the two, thousands and thousands of strings and wires became visible. It took time to distinguish which one where essential and which one I could disconnect: one time I even stopped L’s heart for a moment. That wasn’t fun. In general, I had to leave the central wires alone but I could take the more peripheral one out.

After learning that I had to create a dummy pillar and connect all the strings I severed with it, which also took time. I had to make sure everything was in the right place, I couldn’t have them think to move an arm and then have them turn their head.

In the end, I finished working on it only after the new year came. But I was satisfied, I had now a way to keep people paralyzed and at the same fake movement. 

Now I needed to create a story. I thought about putting them in Fahrenheit 451 or as androids in Blade Runner, but it was too obvious. Leo would catch on that immediately and would quickly come to the conclusion that I was trying to manipulate them. So I needed something more subtle, but I was going to borrow some bits from those settings.

In the end, I decided for a futuristic society, just to make them awe and think it was the coolest place ever and then, after the first bit, hit them with the oppression. Hopefully, it would make them start to change views.

After that, I needed to create a system for the characters and their abilities, which I shamelessly stole from a few videogames.

  
  


I spent the rest of January and a good part of February creating the illusions for the people and places and stored them on a separate bookcase in my mental library. Eventually, I was ready. The only thing missing were the protagonists of the story. 

At first, I thought about playing with my family, but the twins were the only one who tried to understand me, so I decided to let my brothers and friends play.

Amare was easy to convince. I just had to ask her if she wanted to play with me and she immediately agreed. Sam was also down with it. Cas and Leo also agreed to play pretty quickly. I debated on Mjosgard, I didn’t want to interfere with his character development too much, so in the end I didn’t ask him to join us. 

So, game night came. Well, afternoon. We were all in our home sitting in one of the living room. Amare insisted on being beside me, Cas and Leo were in front of us while Samael was lying sideways on an armchair.

“So what are we doing?” asked the latter.

“Yes, why are we here?” Chimed in Cas. “You said we were going to an adventure and there’ll be lots of running, jumping and fighting.”

Hearing that, the other twin frowned and looked at me. “You didn’t tell me that. You said we wouldn’t move.”

“Whoa, one at a time, guys. And yes, we will go adventuring, but we won’t move from here,” I tried to reassure them. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes!” Amare was the only one to answer, the other simply stared at me diffidently.

“Wow, I’m feeling the love. Anyway, you know that I ate a Devil Fruit, right? I’ve been practicing with it and...”

“Are you hurt?” “Did anything happen?” asked worriedly my two brothers at the same time.

“Don’t worry I’m fine. I just wanted to play with it and then I realized I could play with you,” I answered. “Anyway, I’m going to link our minds together and we will tell a story together.”

“Aw, so we won’t move,” whined Cas.

“If I could finish,” I huffed glaring at him. “I was saying, we are going to tell a story of a different world where you all are going to be the protagonists. So do you trust me?”

“Seems fun, but why isn’t Mjosgard here?” asked Samael.

“Oh, he’s still angry about last year. I thought he wasn’t in the mood for stories.”

Leo mumbled something about taking his mind off things but I ignored him, then he agreed to play. On the contrary, Cas was looking unsure. We all focused on him and I tilted my head, silently asking what’s wrong.

“You said we were going to an adventure.”

“I promise you we are. You’ll feel like you are really running and jumping everywhere. Trust me.”

“... Alright,” he answered after a few moments.

“Wonderful!” I exclaimed and started the game. First I created a wall that surrounded their minds, so that the hallucinations that I dissolved in the water were going to affect only them, and then created five clones of me: one for each of them, one for all the NPC and me for narrating the story and creating the illusions.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


It’s the year 2143 and technology is at its peak. New and revolutionary inventions make life easier for humanity. People don’t have to worry about disease or wars because every illness has been defeated and nations are protected and safeguarded 24/7 by robots working tirelessly.

Cities are always alive and illuminated. Anything and everything is at your fingertips. People left the ground and are now traveling in flying cars.

Last year the company Ulyxes created the ThirdI, which revolutionized the life of people. It was a little circle that stuck to the center of the front and connected people together. It made it possible to share videos, songs, memories, feeling and more.

In this fast world of perpetual light, five people find themselves entering a new type of game, the Dash. It is a group race, in which teams formated casually compete against each other on speed, skill and teamwork.

_Now, it’s time to create your characters_ , I said to them. My other clones helped and explained to my friends and brothers how to do it. I gave them complete freedom, they could choose everything from age to skin color, from gender to their weight.

Amare decided to be a sixteen-year-old girl, by the name of Mafe, that looked similar to herself but har purple hair. The other three went for young adults. Sam, now Ninil, was a white-haired guy with tattoos all over his body, which may or may not be linked to his abilities. Cas was the boring one, he recreated himself only buffer and named the character Prak. Leo on the contrary spent the most time deciding everything, down to the smallest detail. In the end, he settled for a tall, green-haired man with heterochromia and decided to be called Yir’jis.  
  


You enter a hexagonal room and see that other four people also are coming in. You look around and notice that the room is mostly empty with only a table in the middle and nine different objects on in. On the roof, well over two stories high, there are six loops that all look the same. On one side there is a bright blue door with light all around it and a timer over it. What do you do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading!
> 
> So, I changed the summary. Someone asked me to change it because they found the previous summary, well, a certain phrase of it, horrible/offensive. That was kind of the point? Not the offensive part, dear lord, but I sort of spent the last 14 chapters saying that the society in which I put Feli in is horrible. I'm trying really hard to keep the story light-hearted and, at the same time, make the characters behave as they should. I don't have the slightest authority to talk about themes like oppression, slavery and the likes so I'm trying to... I want to say politically correct, but it's not the right term... Careful? Attentive? Ponder on my words?  
> Anyway, all of that to say, I apologize if I offended someone, it wasn't my intention at all and to prevent from doing it again, I rewrote the summary.🙇
> 
> Now that the serious part is gone, I tried Shakespearean English. Never again. Also, I probably butchered it, so I'm sorry.  
> I was sick of writing drama so this is my attempt to bring things back to "normal".  
> Why were the twins the compassionate ones I hear you ask? Simple, the got burned. Cas saw Feli become catatonic when he taught her how to shoot and got yelled at when he spoke about the escaped slaves. Leo knows why she avoided Cas and he made her faint when he forced his sister to watch. Moreover, they were both there when she talked back to their father. So they are more mindful of their sister's view even if they don't share it.  
> Also, do you think I'm focusing too much on the bad side of the family? I didn't want to write the mother threatening the new girls but that's how she would behave in that situation. Should I dial it down? She is horrible, yes, but she also loves her daughter and I'm afraid I'm not showing it.  
> Feli's plan is to make them play as slave liberators and hope that some of that mentality would bleed through on their real life.  
> The part about the game is totally self-indulgent wish fulfillment. It's the apotheosis of videogames for me. I'm hoping and praying the technology would reach that level in my lifespan. VR is good and all but it's not the same.  
> The last part was so weird. I had to write a story in a story.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you in two weeks. 👋


	15. ...And Planning

The game was a smash, they all loved it and we made plans to continue the following week.

At the same time, I was happy to have found a way to reconnect with my brothers, at least. There was still some distance between my parents and me but I had no idea how to rebuild our relationship.

So I simply ignored it and focused on other things. Like the new slaves one. Or Law and Rosinante. Which were as complicated as my family stuff.

Regarding the girls, during one time I visited them, I scanned their mind and read their memory: the two redhead sisters had their village pillaged by pirates and were sold to slavers, the tall, blue-haired one was the bastard of a noble of the west blue, sold by the father to appease the legitimate wife while the black-haired girl was the daughter of a prostitute and after seeing how her mother was treated she was as scared to go back as to stay here.

Which meant it was more difficult than just heal them: even if they recovered, physically, mentally and emotionally, I couldn't just let them go. I mean, yes, I could bring them to Dragon and ask him to help them, but even if he believed that they weren't spies, I was still spooked by the Gorōsei and my last visit. I was going to abstain from revolutionary thoughts for a while more.

So I started tutoring them, just a couple of hours every morning. I hoped if they saw me as their teacher it would make their fear disappear. It worked, somewhat, after the second week they didn't look like they were waiting for me to explode any second now. Small victories.

Regarding my other problem, the Law and Rosinante issue was even more complicated. The biggest obstacle was the fact that I was here and they were there. They weren't coming to Mary Geoise and I couldn't go out. I lacked the freedom to move around as I please.

Thus I came to the conclusion that I needed to find someone to be there for me. Fortunately, I didn’t need trustworthy people, I needed loyal ones. It was a subtle difference but a very important one: a trustworthy person is someone who I can confide in; a loyal person is somebody who would obey only me. Moreover, with the Mind-Mind Fruit, I could easily render people loyal. I just needed people, but that wasn’t a problem, I could ask dad.

That brought me to my father’s study. I was about to knock when the doors opened and my father burst out, almost toppling me. He picked me up and made me spin.

“Oh. Feli, wonderful news, we have to tell everyone! Come, come help me find your mother and your brothers.”

“What happened?” I asked while being held and carried away.

“The city has been rebuilt! There’s also going to be a party to celebrate it,” he happily proclaimed. “Oh, we need to prepare quickly a trip to Sabaody! Finally! I’m sure everybody needs to go there so we must be quick.”

“Why? Was going there prohibited?”

“Of course not, we are Tenryūbito, nothing is prohibited for us.” he gently snorted and gave me a small grin. “It was just… strongly encouraged to help the rebuild of Mary Geoise. And we helped, with funds mostly, but, you know, when you lend your toys to others you never know how they are going to come back.”

I nodded and he continued. “Well, do you wanna be the one to tell them?”

“Sure.”

We walked (he walked, I was carried) in silence towards the greenhouse, where mom usually spent her time drawing and painting. Dad had a cheerful smile and sometimes glanced at me, I was lost in thoughts.

_At first, I thought about asking to have some servants all to myself, but maybe I should go to Sabaody. Wait, didn’t Rayleigh know where Amazon Lily was?_ My eyes widened and I couldn’t contain my smile. _Alright, I’m going, but still, should I find some slaves or is it better to employ someone? Slaves wouldn’t be suspicious to acquire but paying people is more moral._

I felt my father kissing my temple and it jostled me out of my thoughts. I looked at him curiously and noticed that he stopped. We were on the ground floor a couple of turns away from the greenhouse.

“You seem happier lately. More relaxed. I’m glad.”

I shrugged, not knowing how to answer.

“It’s alright, dear,” he said softly kissing my forehead again. “I’m here and I’ll be here whenever you’ll need me.”

I hugged his neck and nodded in his shoulder, guilty and with a bitter taste in my mouth. Dad put a hand on my head and resumed walking.

* * *

The trip to Sabaody was scheduled for the day after tomorrow. It seemed that my parents had it prepared for a few weeks now and they only needed to know when, so we were good to go. We were all going since we all lost our slaves, so it turned out to be a quick impromptu family trip. My family was a bit worried for me, since the last time we went out I didn’t react well, but I convinced them to let me come.

While mom and dad were arranging the last issues, I thought about what I wanted to do. First I calculated how many people I needed: I was going to have a couple of people tailing and infiltrating Law and the Donquixote family respectively. I was also going to have a doctor there, so they could patch Rosinante a bit. Moreover, I thought about placing more people in other strategic places, like in Goa, near Zoro, in Water 7 but that wasn’t as pressing as Rosinante.

The next thing on my list was that I needed an intermediary. I could be the one to direct them all, but if I was going to expand this net I needed someone else to manage it, I couldn’t return from a three-day trip with five more people to talk. Speaking of, I didn’t like writing letters considering that the Gorōsei had their eyes on me. So I was also going to buy some white Den Den Mushi.

Finally, the day of our departure came and we were off. The Red Port was extremely busy, there were other three families departing and we were all directed to Sabaody. Hopefully, I would be able to find someone acceptable.

The journey went well there were no people tortured or traumatized, which I counted a success. We barely had the time to put our things in the hotel before mom dragged us to the auction.

My plan was to scan the mind of every people sold while they were on the stage to find if they would be useful. It worked, kinda. I found a doctor, he failed to save the life of a noble so he was imprisoned and sold. I was hoping to find someone else but, well, the World Government had been buying slaves to reconstruct Mary Geoise. Besides, slavery was still illegal so there weren’t so many of them. Fortunately, the Auction Houses knew that many Celestial Dragons were coming so they stocked up and organized more auctions.

Anyway, I retrieved my doctor and made sure he was settled. The hotel, knowing his clientele, provided some rooms for the new and not so new pets. They weren’t fancy, they were more dorms than anything else, but they didn’t need to.

Done that, I returned to my room and wrote my letter to the amazons. It wasn’t long, I just asked if they were okay and signed myself as Menace. I didn’t want them to answer me directly, so I also told them to direct their response to Reiju. After that, I wrote to Reiju, saying that if she helped me I would owe her a favor. Finally, I wrote my message to Rayleigh and asked him to help me. I was going to include some money with it but that would have to wait morning. At last, I could go to sleep.

The next day I woke up bright and early. I immediately sent my message to Ray (telling the maid to bring it to Shakky’s bar as soon as possible) but not my letter to Reiju. Instead, I asked mom if I could go shopping alone. She reluctantly agreed but I had to double the number of guards and be back before noon since the next auction started soon after. I nodded happily and was out towards the shopping district.

Before I started to hunt Den Den Mushi I went to a bank and exchanged some cheques with cash. With the Gorōsei examining my every move, the last thing I wanted was a money trail. At least not for this.

I had to buy at least five pairs of white snails and a pair of normal ones (with which I was going to send the letter to Reiju). I wasn’t going to buy all of them in the same place, that would also raise suspicions and they didn’t sell ten white Den Den Mushi in the same place, so I had to spend some time. Eventually, I was able to buy all of them (each one of them more expensive than the doctor) and started going back to the hotel when I felt a force slam against the mind of my escort.

“Well, hello, little lady, long time no see.”

I whipped around, heart still beating furiously against my ribs. _Is that how Haushoku feels like? Good God, it wasn’t even directed towards me and it still felt like it was going to knock me over._

“I received your message,” continued Rayleigh. “However, I am afraid I can’t meet your request. You see I don’t know where the amazons live.”

“That’s bullshit,” I refuted after regaining my composure, “I know you know Gloriosa. And I know you helped hide Hancock and the others.”

“Let me rephrase it. Why should I help a slave owner contact her former slaves?”

“Because they are my friends and I want to know if they are okay. I don’t want them back, I’m just worried.”

He didn’t respond but simply stared at me. I tried to let him see my honesty. After a few minutes, he sighed and spoke again. “Those girls were healthy and the only bruises that they had were recent. But why menace?”

“It’s a nickname,” I answered averting my gaze a little embarrassed. “Hancock gave it to me.”

“Mhm,” he snorted and smiled. “Well, little menace, I guess I can try. See ya.”

After that, he came up to me. I looked at him warily but he simply reached inside my bubble and patted my head. Like. A. Kid.

Then he was gone, I could feel him darting away, but I was more preoccupied with not exploding in anger. When he was almost outside of my range I quickly formed a link. _Can you ask Hachi if he wants to open a takoyaki stand because he’s part octopus? Isn’t it a form of cannibalism?_

I immediately separated our minds and looked around me. My guards were still out and it was almost noon. I sighed and began to wake them up. In the meantime, I started creating copies to alter their memories.

_Asshole._

* * *

At the end of our short trip, I had four new slaves. This was great because I had something to work with, but at the same time, I needed at least five people.

Anyway, immediately after we returned home, mom started preparing for the end of reconstruction celebration. In the meantime, I brought my new slaves to the garden house. Initially, I was hesitant to have my spies near the new girls, but I hoped to have them leave after the party with the guests. I just needed to make them loyal and erase their memory of me. No biggie.

_These are going to be some looong ten days. And at the same time, extremely short._

I gathered my new space in the solarium on the first floor. I observed them calmly for a few minutes. They were standing in line in front of me. The doctor and another girl seemed more nervous than the other two.

I focused on them while sipping on jasmine tea. The doctor was a middle-aged guy with short, curly black hair and receding hairline. His hands, calloused and filled with light scars, were fidgeting with his baggy clothes. His eyes, dark and a bit hollow, continued to dart between me and the table in front of me, nervous but curious.

Scanning the mind of the girl, I found out that she was in her late teens but she didn’t show them. She was a street rat with black hair, straight but short. She was a bit too thinner and paler to be healthy, but not extremely so. Her gaze was focused on the ground and I could see her slightly shaking.

I shifted my attention to the other two while I took a cookie and ate it. They were two men, young adults, with green hair and eyes. They didn’t look too fazed by the prolonged silence. It wasn’t a surprise, they _were_ thieves. I smiled at them and they twitched. My smile widened and I sipped the tea again.

“Would you like to be free?”

Nobody answered but the two thieves seemed more focused, while the doctor shivered and the girl shrank into herself.

  
  


“I want to offer you all a job.” I continued. “I selected each one of you for a particular task. I’ll make sure to support and finance you for the duration of the job. If you accept my offer I’ll let you go and you’ll be able to return to the world below without consequences. If you refuse you’ll remain here, in this God-forsaken city for the rest of your lives.”

“What kind of job?” asked the thief on the left.

“Something suited for each of your abilities, Eric. For example, from Leopold,” the doctor jolted when I said his name, ”I would only ask to make sure that some people are healthy and stay healthy. Nothing more.”

“You could have just employed us instead of buying us,” said Right-thief.

I drank some more tea and smiled at him. “Yes, I could have. But if I did you wouldn’t fear me.”

I put down the cup and touched my cheek. At the same time, I made them hallucinate: a purple bruise appeared on the cheek and I had watery eyes.

“What would happen,” I asked with a sweet voice still maintaining the illusion, “ if a Tenryūbito reported her slave escaped and assaulted her in a post-Fisher Tiger world?”

The two thieves blanched, Leopold took a step back and the girl was full-on trembling. I dropped the illusion and finished my tea. Then I stood up, still smiling.

“Good. Now that we reached an understanding, my attention is required elsewhere. Tomorrow I’ll hear your answer. Remember, don’t go upstairs and enjoy the rest of the day.”

I managed to walk out of the garden house before stumbling down on the wall. _Oh my God, that was horrible. She was shaking like a leaf. I know it’s the carrot and stick method but did I beat them too hard? Oh, God, I just threatened to unleash the World Government and an Admiral on them, I spent too much time here._

I waited until I felt calm again and went in search of dad. I needed one more person.

* * *

  
  


It wasn’t difficult to get my request granted. At all. I just had to say I wanted my own Klaus and here I had two new butlers following me.

The next day I returned to the garden house, my serene mask on and leaving the two butlers in the main building. It was the same scene as the day before, minus the tea. I was waiting patiently for them to speak, but inside I was a nervous wreck. I hoped they accepted, I hoped they wouldn’t hate me too much.

“What would our tasks be?” asked Rudol, the other thief.

“As I said, support,” I answered pointing at the doctor, “tracking” pointing the girl, “infiltration and information gathering,” the greenheads.

“Alright, we are in,” Eric sighed and Rudol dropped his head.

“Thank you,” I said with a genuine smile.

“Yes, well, it’s not like you gave us much of a choice.”

I turned my gaze to the other two. They were looking at the ground shaking.

“I give you my word that I will do everything in my power to keep you as safe as possible,” I said gently. “I’m doing this because I want to save people. If there was another way I would pick that, but we all make do with the cards we have been dealt with.”

“Do you think we trust your word?” asked softly Leopold.

“Not really. Not when I’m the one with the power to kill without consequences. But what else can you do?”

“Very well,” he whispered.

I looked at the girl, she was staring at me and she continued to do so. I didn’t break eye contact and eventually, she closed hers and nodded once.

“Thank you,” I exhaled.

_I’m sorry._

* * *

The rest of the week I focused entirely on the carrot part.

I was going to erase their memories of me and this place, they would only know that if they disobeyed my orders everybody would hunt them. In addition, they would be able to spill any dangerous information if they were caught. They would know they would talk to a proxy and they would know me as their Employer. No name, no gender, no place to find me. But this was the easy part, the part that I already knew how to do.

I wanted them to be happy to receive my orders, I wanted them to know they did the right thing when they followed them. Remembering what happens when I put on the circlet and practicing for my game with the kids, I came up with a way to make them obey that I was fairly sure it would work.

And I hesitated. I was terrified, I was thinking about brainwashing, about stripping their free will. For fuck’s sake, I was going to _Imperio_ them. But I had to. Fear alone wasn’t enough, they need to be invested in it.

I felt sick creating a long, thin ice spear. Engraving it with my commands felt like being covered in mud and gore, the more I chiseled the more I sank. Tears spilled from my eyes when the butler that was following me spun every three steps like I had him do.

The party was the day after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading it!
> 
> So I was kidding, there's a lil' bit of plot here. Just the tiniest bit. It's basically just set up but it was the only logical way I could think to have her be able to help Law and Rosinante. I imagine someone hoped for a more direct approach (since I practically bailed Fisher Tiger) but I can't write Feli meeting them. Just... No. I have this horrible habit of noping fics that go too OOC or don't make sense. At least if they aren't crack or AUs.
> 
> Surprise! I've found a way to contact the Amazons. I'm so happy about it, I feel like Feli needs to know if they are okay. Just to reassure her a little.
> 
> At first, I planned this chapter to go in a completely different direction but Friday I thought about this and I had to rewrite 3/4 of it. Honestly, at this point, it feels more like I'm playing connect the dots than writing. I guess it's a good thing since I can't screw myself too much if I don't have everything planned out and things go one way instead of the other, right?  
> Also, I'm scared. I never thought about giving her such infiltration power. I mean, I always wanted her to have a part in the underworld, but with this, I could easily see her become on par with Joker. I like the chapter more this way, but what have I done... Guess that's a problem for the future me.😵  
> Rayleigh was also a surprise. Again. Why is he here, I hear you ask. Well, Oda said that he was a great friend of Gloriosa, so if a Celestial Dragon asks him to pass a message to the amazons that he helped to shelter during the hunt after the liberation and if the said Celestial Drogon sign herself as menace, he would have some questions. Considering that he could have simply ignored it this is much better.  
> I like writing about their interactions. I don't know why I made them bicker, but I always end up giggling when I finish them. Weird because irl I'm not the controversial type. I can't stand arguing but I love writing it, apparently.  
> Dark Feli entered the chat. I'm proud...?  
> 
> 
> Again, thanks for reading and see you in two weeks.👋


	16. Hypocrisy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So update:  
> "this is conversation"  
>  _this is thoughts_  
>  _this is telepathy_  
>  **and this is an order**
> 
> Also, WARNING: there's a lil' bit of blood. But that's what happens when Tenryūbito interact with common people.

I was woken up early the next day. Louis, one of the two butlers my father gave me, brought my breakfast and started opening the windows. While eating, I asked him about the schedule of the celebration party.

"The ceremony starts right after lunch. A representative of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government will welcome and escort the various dignitaries and journalists to Pangea Castle. After that…"

"Journalists?"

"Yes, Holy One, journalists. We must show the world that the Holy Land rose from its ashes more magnificent and radiant than before," he explained.

_Crap, Morgans will probably be here. It's been a while since I last heard of him. Not that I would have written to him, and I'm probably not going to write for a bit longer, but it's been months, he's going to be curious. I should have bought another pair of white snails._ I sighed, silently cursing my short-sightedness, but gestured to Louis to continue.

“After that,” he resumed, “the various noble families and the guests will gather in the Socializing Plaza, which has been decorated for this event. The admiral and the Commander-in-Chief of the Marine will formally apologize for not having been able to protect the Holy Land from being violated by the common people. Then the real celebration will start, with performers from all over the world.”

I nodded and continued chewing my croissant. Louis remained silent and calm at the foot of the bed. “At what time will they be leaving?”I asked.

“Some this night and others tomorrow morning, Your Holiness.”

_So I may have to split them._

“Very well, I’ll start getting dressed immediately.”

“I’ll call the maids, then.” He said, bowing before leaving.

A few minutes later a couple of maids entered the room and began to help me dress. Meanwhile, I entered my mind apartment and made a few copies of myself. At first, I put one to figure out what to say to Morgans and the Gorōsei and to keep watch on the outside world, and three helped me with the ice spears, but I quickly realized that the more I split my attention, not only it slowed my thinking, but it also made it harder to create the ice. In the end, I left only the one that contemplated how to approach the journalist and the Five elders while I concentrated on the spears.

I found a free space on my pond (where no other mind was) and put my hand in the water. I closed my eyes and imagined the water under me freezing. When I felt cold I envisioned a column of ice rising in front of me. When it reached the meter and a half I opened my eyes and broke it free from the surface of the pond and started shaping it: using my hand, I shaved the ice off from one end of it. When I deemed it pointy and smooth enough I started engraving it: this time I took the spear in both hands and slowly went down the length. All around the tip, I put the most important command: **be happy to serve the Employer** . Down the handle, I wrote **not to talk about the Employer** and to **feel accomplished when they obey the Employer**. I repeated these three orders until there was no more space on the spear. At last, I had to harden it. I held the ice spear in my lap and closed my eyes again. I remembered cold winter night, snow and blizzard. I thought about permafrost, about the north and south pole. I recalled what I learned about deep space and absolute zero. In the meantime, I could feel the temperature of the spear drop, but it didn’t hurt me.

Eventually, I opened my eyes and took a moment to study the ice. It didn’t look like ice, it was crystal clear and the engravings were visible only from the right angle. Satisfied I put the spear aside and began to create the second one.

It took me a while to forge the other lances, I was halfway through lunch when I remerged from my mind. Absorbing my copy gave me all her memories so I had no problem picking up the conversation. I almost risked choking tho.

After lunch, I went to the garden house to make sure that my soon-to-be spies were ready to move out and to give them their orders.

I returned in my mind space and lifted the column of Velina, the girl. I took one spear and hovered over the mind of the girl. I took one big breath and started sinking the ice in Velina’s mind. There was a little bit of resistance, but I was able to drive the lance all in, no part of it exposed. I stayed there for a few seconds, simply staring at the column with the ice core. _Hypocrite._

I sighed, took another spear and moved to the next guy. Things to do, places to go and people to see.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The Socializing Plaza was beautiful. The garden was back to its full glory, green and alive, and at first sight, seemed the same as before. Then you noticed the details: the tiles had a translucent sheen on them, like mother-of-pearl, and silver shone brightly in the space between them. The walls around the garden were white but had gold that ran all over them like veins. Mom and Cas oohed and aahed at the shinies, while I wondered how many islands were brought to bankruptcy to provide for all of this.

The plaza was divided in two. One part had tables and chairs that surrounded a wooden platform. The other had a semicircular amphitheater, also made out of wood. In front of the stage, there were five chairs and you could see it was all going to be dismantled but it looked elegant nonetheless.

We were directed to the later and we took a spot on the bleachers. Amare and her family were already there and we took the spot next to them. She scooted her way over to me and we chated ‘till Leo informed us that it was beginning.

While people took their place, the two escorts (the Elder and our representative) sat at their place, the journalist took out the cameras, notebooks and snail recorders the ambassadors and nobles from all over the world found places on the other side of the stage where they could see, I inspected the crowd.

The first noticeable thing was the platoon of marines that followed the World Noble and Friedrich. They wore their most elegant uniform: a double-breasted black jacket with white rims, a navy blue sash used as a belt and shiny black boots. Sengoku and Kong wore also a black half cape with the symbol of the marines embroidered in white. It was attached to the jacket underneath with a white cord that seemed to glint in the light like it had silver string in it.

Morgans was the second thing easiest to find as usual. The overgrown chicken was lazily scanning us Celestial Dragons from the end of the audience. He looked laid back but the glint in his eyes gave him away.

I contemplated the idea of waiting before talking to him, but I was working on a pretty packed schedule so I took a big breath and picked up a bored and neutral expression before searching for his mind. Before establishing the connection I created a copy to keep my expression as it was and keep watch, I was in front of him this time so even if he surprised me he would be able to tell. _Hi, Morgans, long time no see. _

His eyes widened a bit, and I could swear that I saw the tiniest smile, but he schooled his expression back to bored immediately. Well, look who’s showing up again. _And here I thought you would be here anymore, what a nice surprise. I missed your letters, dear Amber, is this your way to say we are resuming our correspondence? _

_Sort of. Do you have a Den Den Mushi? A white one, preferably?_

_I can procure one, but why? I was very happy when I received your letters._

_The World Government suspects that someone on the inside helped Fisher Tiger,_ I answered with a hint of pride. _They have been keeping a very close eye on what happens in the Holy Land._

_I assume you are that someone._

_What are you gonna do, tell on me? _ I taunted him.

_Of course not, why would I let my informant from the Regulus House go?_

My smugness vanished and my blood turned cold. I quickly broke our link. _Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…_

I was panicking. He was too close and I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t erase his memories, if he found out once he would find out a second time. Even worse if I did it and he found out, he would be pissed and less inclined to keep it secret. I had to trust him. I had to trust him but I didn’t trust him at all. Hell, I trusted even less now. Another problem was Haki. Usually, I stayed far away from the mind oh Haki user (Rayleigh being the only exception), so I wasn't sure how the various Colors would react to me but I had some theories. Observation would probably let someone know if I was snooping around, Armement would make it more difficult to form a link and Conqueror would make it difficult to influence people. The manga never said Morgans had Haki but at the same, time it never said he didn't have it. _I must dig up something from him, I guess that’s another thing for my spies._

_What do you know?_ I spat out angrily.

_ In 1507 Aurelio Regulus started founding the search for a specific Devil Fruit. The following year he came into possession of two: the Mer Mero no Mi, the one he was looking for, and the Mind-Mind Fruit. My theory was that you were a slave, perhaps the toy of one of the kids. But here you are. _ This time he was the smug one.  _And I didn’t know anything. Not until you confirmed it._

_Well, good for you, it seems like you have done your homework. This is my number when you have a white snail call me._ and I gave him Meucci’s number, my personal white Den Den Mushi. _Why are all the people I talk to assholes?_

I mentally shook my head and focused on what was happening in front of me. The marines were all prostrated before us. The sailors were repeatedly banging their head on the floor while the fleet-admiral and the commander-in-chief were apologizing to every single Tenryūbito. They were listing how many slaves every single one lost and asked for forgiveness. If it was the head of one family then they also added the material damages caused during the uprising. In addition, they could move to the next one only when the current Celestial Dragon was satisfied and said they forgave them. Needless to say, the majority left them hanging for various minutes before begrudgingly letting them go. It was disgusting so of course, I had to play along and let them wait a bit. _Hypocrite._

Finally, _finally_ , the last World Noble forgave the Marines and this show was over. The sailors were allowed to stand, wobblingly and with their faces covered in blood. We all ignored them and drifted to the other side of the garden.

Musicians took our previous seats and started tuning their instrument and soon dancers gathered on the central platform before beginning to dance. Meanwhile, the adults formed small groups on the outskirts and started chatting, the children ran around and played.

I felt a tug on my sleeve, turned and Amare was looking at me with pleading eyes. “I want to be Mafe, can we play?”

She smiled and skipped away to find the boys. I scanned the crowd in search of the Elders. On paper my plan was simple: convince them that I thought my slaves were my friends, so I defended them even when they ran away. I was just a little girl who lost her ‘supposed friends’ and the gentle grandpas that she visited thought that she helped destroy the city. I didn’t want to meet them because I was hurt by their questions. How cruel of them. Moreover, my copy was bored, so she tried tweaking in the control room and found out how to simulate crying: I just had to make my body believe that my eyes and nose were too dry and bam, there I had teary eyes and stuffy nose. It was genius, I was pretty proud of her (me?).

The Gorōsei were currently speaking with Kong and Sengoku. I slowly made my way to them making sure I looked guilty and keeping my head low. When I was near them, I stayed silent but raised my eyes a few times like I wanted to talk to them but was too shy to. The marines noticed me immediately and while the Commander didn’t seem to care, Sengoku looked a bit concerned but they stayed silent. The Five Elders also glanced at me but they continued the conversation.

  
_Earlier they put on a show for us, I guess it’s only polite to repay the favor._ I stayed there but fidgeted with my hands and shifted my weight from one foot to the other, trying to look apologetic. They continued talking for a few more minutes (the Fleet-Admiral checked on me periodically) but eventually the conversation ended and the Gorōsei finally focused on me.

Silence reigned for a few moments between us. I could see that the marines wanted to leave, but they didn't have permission to. 

"Hello, Felicia, did you have to tell us something?" Finally asked Apollon.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. Then I raised my head, glassy eyes, sniffing and hiccupping, and continued louder. "I'm sorry. I-I don't want you to b-be angry at me."

The Elders looked confused, but not distrusting. The Fleet-Admiral was shocked, his mouth open wide in disbelief, while Kong seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but here. A small crowd was forming around us, but I ignored them.

"Why are you sorry, little one?" Asked Barnabas.  
  


“E-Everybody was angry at the slaves an-and they said that they destroyed the city, b-but I know that my friends wouldn’t do-o it. Mari and S-Sonny were good p-pets, they loved m-me, that’s why my ga-garden house was okay. They-They didn’t run, they w-were forced to.” I stopped for a second, like I was trying to take a deep breath, and wiped away the tears while scanning my audience.

Sengoku was still shocked and Kong was still petrified. Tokitomo remained composed but his gaze mellowed the more I cried, Faust kneeled down on my level, Apollon offered his handkerchief (which I used), Friedrich put a hand on my back trying to soothe me and Barnadas posture relaxed and he tried to shush me gently.

“And th-then, last time, you were angry-y with me. And I was s-scared you would still be and I-I was right, you ar-are. I just wa-ant Tokitomo to teach me the s-sword and play ch-chess with Faust and listen to Ba-Barnabas’ stories and look…”

Suddenly Friedrich picked me up and tried to calm me. “It’s alright, little one, we understand. We’re not angry with you anymore. Don’t cry, Felicia, everything’s okay.”  
  


The others agreed and I hugged Friedrich. we stayed like that until I calmed down. I smiled at the other Elders from over his shoulder reciprocated and then left with the still slightly shocked marines.

“Alright, little one, go play with your friends,” he said while putting me down. “We’ll invite you soon to the Castle.”

Before he left I hugged him one last time, he chuckled and patted my head. I was watching him disappear in the slowly dispersing crowd when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and dad was watching me with a soft smile. “I see. It wasn’t us you had to talk to.”  
  


I shrugged and looked away. Behind me, mom was waiting with one arm outstretched. “Come on, sweetie, let’s go clean up. You don’t want your friends to see you like that, right?”

  
I let her guide me to the bathroom. I freshened up but stay there staring at my reflection for a while. I was embarrassed. I felt guilty. I was happy to be in their graces again. _Hypocrite._

  
  


* * *

When I joined the other kids for our game they were all concerned with me (my brothers even suggested going home) but I still had things to do so I dismissed them. Leo didn’t seem too convinced but let it go.

We found a table on the side, I was tired of being in the center of attention (and for my next goal I had not to be), and started playing. This time, however, I changed the method: while they were hallucinating I had them unconsciously declare their actions, my descriptions were also aloud and all the conversations were spoken out loud (I made sure to let them drink regularly). Furthermore, I created an extra copy and let her be the DM.

In the meantime, I was scanning the minds of the guests to find two people that would leave this night. The first was a nobleman from the north blue, perfect for the two thieves. The second one was a journalist, whose assistants stayed home. His ship had a couple of free rooms so he was the perfect candidate for Velina and the doctor. After finding my two transits, I concentrated on creating the spears for them, which were simpler and shorter than the previous one: **bring the two additions to your destination** repeated all over the lance.

At last, I created false memories for them to integrate into their books later. The noble would believe that the thieves are coming with him because their master bought something on the noble’s native island and the greenheads are tasked to retrieve it. The journalist will believe that Leopold and the girl are sent by another branch of his publishing house and they didn’t want to buy another ticket for the journey home.

Satisfied, I banished the extra copy and took her place in the game.

We played until we were hungry. The party was still going and buffet tables were prepared near the walls surrounding the garden. So we picked up some food and brought it to our spot. After dinner, I told them I was ‘tired’ and I was going to go home. I said goodbye and went to inform my parents, with Leo accompanying me. At first, they weren’t too happy for me to go alone but my brother offered to go with me so they agreed.

The walk back was quiet. It wasn’t uncomfortable, the Plaza was loud and chaotic so the silence was appreciated. The streets were quiet and after half an hour we were home.

We entered the mansion, Leo kissed my forehead and wished me good night. We separated and as soon as I turned the angle I sprinted to my room. I picked up the white snails and run down to the garden. I called out loud for the soon-to-be spies and waited. My stomach was in knots and I was wondering if it really was the right thing to do. Soon they came running, smiling when they saw me, adoration and devotion in their eyes.  
  


“My lady, is it time?” asked Eric excitedly. “Are we going to be able to serve you?”

I didn’t answer, feeling even sicker, and gave them the snails and a slip of paper. During the previous week, I procured normal clothes for them and they were already wearing them. “These are your Den Den Mushi. Memorize this number and then burn the paper. Are you ready?”

“Yes! We already gathered our things. We are eager to receive your orders!”

I closed my eyes for a second and held my breath, then exhaled and looked at the thieves. “Rudol, Eric you will join the Marquis De Sopyne and travel with him to the North Blue as retainers of the noble’s friend. Then you will split from him and search for the Donquixote Family and infiltrate the group. I want you to keep tabs on Donquixote Donflamingo, their boss, and Corazòn, aka Donquixote Rosinante. Your duty is to make sure Donflamingo doesn’t kill Rosinante.”

The two green-headed men smiled and bowed low. I turned my head and looked at the other two. “Leopold, Velina, you will join a journalist to leave Mary Geoise. Then you will also head to the North Blue, and settled on a random island until I contact you. When the time comes you will transfer to another island, in which you will open a clinic as a doctor and his assistant. Your task is to keep Corazòn, aka Donquixote Rosinante, and Trafalgar D. Water Law alive and healthy. In addition to that, I want you to set up an escape route for up to six people. If things go south, I want to try to retrieve all of you but Rosinante and Law are my priority.”

“My lady, please!” Exclaimed Leopold. “We are your servants. The fact that you care is enough to make us weep in joy.”

He wasn’t exaggerating, I could see unshed tears in their eyes.  For a moment I struggled to keep my dinner down. _ I have to. I have to. _

“Right,” I bit out. “Then follow me.”  
  


We sneaked our way out of the house. The streets were still deserted, fortunately. We passed the Celestial Dragon Gate, the guards there were a little confused to see me again, but in a few minutes’ time, they wouldn’t remember seeing me. When we were far enough from them but not too close to the Socializing Plaza I opened their collars. Thye didn’t seem to like me taking their chains away, which made me move even quicker.  _ IhavetoIhavetoIhaveto… _

Eventually, the two escorts were in my range so I stopped. My spies also stopped walking and turned to me.

“I won’t go nearer. Your passage is this person” I said while sending in their mind the face of the noble and the journalist. “Now go, they’ll recognize you and will be waiting for you.”

They bowed one last time and resumed walking. As they left I was entering the false memories in the memory books of the two guests. After that, I created three copies and entered the mind of my spies. I took away the pages containing the last two weeks. The only things they remembered were their orders and their companion. They didn’t remember me, they didn’t remember the other pair and they didn’t remember my house.

I took all the pages, put them in a file named ‘Rosinante&Law’ and stored it in my library.

Finally, I made my way home, making sure to erase the memory of me and my spies from the guards at the gate. I returned home and went straight to bed. 

_ I had to. _

_... _

_ Hypocrite. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for reading!
> 
> In my mind, when Feli creates the copies she splits her mental abilities as many times as there are clones. She maintains the majority because she's the original, so that's why I have her be the one to create the lances. They are a new thing and need concentration to be made.  
> I took inspiration from the royal navy formal uniform for the clothes of the marines.  
> I brought Morgans back! I see him as a nosy and curious individual, but that's not a compliment. I think Morgans is obsessed with knowledge and truth. I mean, if he was a real journalist with no ulterior motive other than telling the truth he would have given the merit of defeating Crocodile to the straw hats and not go along with the version of the marines. So he comes to the celebration officially to document the event, but in reality, he wants to see if he can find more about the escape. SLIGHT SPOILER FOR THE WANO ARC: I think he published the newspaper even when the government told him not to because he saw that the world was changing and by creating chaos he would learn something new. I am fairly certain that if he knew that Shanks was there talking to the five elders, it would have been his front-page title. END OF SPOILERS  
> Anyway, this is all my headcanon so if someone disagrees, that's totally okay.  
> The Den Den Mushi is named after the creator of the telephone Alessandro Meucci. Bell is the one that patented (?) it in 1876 but the inventor was Meucci in 1849. Ten points to whoever guesses the other snail's name. (the colored one)😝  
> I swear I'm trying to stop with the broody and depressing stuff but it just won't go away.  
> I didn't think something could top the feeling of writing torture and death, but apparently, I was wrong. The last bit felt worse than chapter 11.
> 
> This was the first time I had too many titles. The first one that came into my mind was "work hard, play hard" but that ended up being my least favorite. Then came "means to an end" and "old friends". While I was writing I thought about "hypocrisy" and "apologies". I was going to keep "old friend" but then I changed in "hypocrisy" (like in the last half hour) and in the end, I like it better this way.  
> Question: do you think I change between cursive, underlined and bold too much? I like the idea to visually differentiate her thoughts/telepathy/orders from the rest, I think it helps but I'm starting to wonder if it's becoming too much.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you in two weeks. 👋


	17. Fire and Fame

The next day I woke up still feeling guilty about what I did. I squashed those feelings deep down, I didn’t have time to mull over what was already done, I was on a rigid schedule. I needed to find out which one of my butlers was best suited to go down, find a believable excuse to have them leave, secure his loyalty and silence and establish a reliable (and untraceable) source of funds for my spies. I had to do it within a month, Velina and Leopold would be the first one to arrive at their destination and needed the funds more than the other two.

Finding money wasn’t a problem (God knew I could keep spending millions for the rest of my life and I still wouldn’t make a dent in the family fortune) and I had an idea of how to give it to them while keeping my involvement a secret. No, the unknowns were the butlers. Well, them and the construction time of a swimming pool. _Which reminds me…_

As soon as I finished breakfast I went to search for my parents. They were still sleeping, not that I cared much. For a moment I thought about letting L wake them up, but I wanted them to agree with me so I discarded the idea. I decided to climb in the space between the two and told L to stay down. They didn’t seem to steer so I gently shook their shoulder. “Psst, mom, dad.”

Mom grumbled and turned giving me her back, while dad yawned and blinked his eyes open. 

“Feli?” He asked, his voice low and sleepy. “What’s wrong? What time is it?”

“Nothing, it’s almost ten. Can I have a swimming pool?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” he agreed, turning on his stomach and going back to sleep. Happy, I started getting down the bed.

“What? No!” exclaimed mom loudly, suddenly sitting up. Hearing her shout, dad also rose up and looked around wide-eyed.

“But, mom.”

“No buts, young lady, you could drown! And you,” she shifted her attention to dad, hitting him in the shoulder, “Why did you say yes?”

  
  


Dad opened his mouth, looking offended, but I beat him. “I’m not going to fill it with water, I won’t drown.”

Mom raised one eyebrow, while dad huffed and flopped down on the bed.

“Feli,” he said after turning on his back. “Why do you want an empty swimming pool?”

“I read a story about a duck that was so rich it could swim in a room full of money. I wanted to try it.”

My father stayed silent and looked at mom like he was saying ‘see? I knew it was alright.’ She simply glared at him and sighed.”Alright, you can have your pool.”

I smiled and went back to climb down the bed when her arms snaked around me and she lied back down, taking me with her.

I squirmed around, trying to get free without success.

“Mom,” I said, still struggling, “let me go.”

“Don’t make too much noise, sweetie, we are sleeping,” she said right beside my ear.

“I won’t. Just. Let me go.”

She ignored me but I could feel her smiling.

“Daad,” I whined, “mom won’t let me goo.”

“Shh, I’m sleeping.”

“No, you are not.”

He put his arm on me, helping mom keeping me down, and started fake snoring.

“I will remember this!” I proclaimed, struggling even harder until I saw L jump on the bed and plop down on my stomach, tail wagging.

I glared at him and finally gave up. _Traitor._

* * *

They let me go only when it was time for lunch. I quickly scrambled away and glaring at them, I declared that vengeance would be mine before leaving. I could hear them chuckling while I walked away but I was more focused on finding Klaus: he was the one in charge of every house modification and renovation.

After informing him of my request (he promised to start searching for materials and labor immediately), I joined the other for the meal. Lunch went as usual until dessert. A maid came up to my parents and whispered something to them. They looked surprised and the maid brought out a tray with a newspaper on it.

Quickly, mom snatched it away, ignoring the first page, she opened it and started reading. Dad moved closer to her and peered over her shoulder. I looked at my brothers to see if they noticed our parents’ behavior, but Leo was barely awake while Cas was focused on his food. Well not completely, the latter _did_ notice that they weren’t focused on their cake, so he swiftly snatched their slices. I looked at him deadpan, he simply shrugged and smiled at me, still chewing. I rolled my eyes and returned to observe mom and dad.

Mom was now holding only one end of the papers, her free and on her mouth hiding her smile, and dad was holding the other, also smiling.

Eventually, I couldn’t contain my curiosity anymore, so I pushed my plate towards my brother then hopped down the chair and went to our parents. I snaked my head under my mom’s arm and looked at the articles. To my chagrin, there was a photo of me and Friedrich hugging. Even worse, the more I read the more my eyes widened, in shock and mortification.

> The Wounds of a Dragon
> 
> As we have already covered, yesterday the Tenryūbito and the Gorōsei welcomed the marines and people from all around the world to celebrate the reconstruction of the Holy Land. But here, we won't talk about the splendor of the resurged Mary Geoise nor the heartfelt apologizes of the Commander in Chief and the Fleet-Admiral, but rather what happened during celebrations after. This little girl is Saint Felicia, the youngest member of the Regulus House. She and her family were fortunately away the terrible day when the Holy Land was violated. Nevertheless, on her return from a family vacation, she found her home destroyed and her friends gone. Saint Felicia was always a cheerful and friendly child: at the last Reverie she befriended a princess from the North Blue and more importantly, we know that she frequently visits the Five Elders, to learn from them and at the same time, brighten their day for a few moments. Although we are not privy to the details, it seems that the little Dragonling has been reprimed by the Gorōsei. So the small child gathered her courage and decided that it was time to apologize. She marched up to them, waited for them to finish their conversation then apologized.
> 
> "Everybody was angry at the slaves and they said that they destroyed the city, but I know that my friends wouldn’t do it," she said between tears and hiccups, "they didn’t run, they were forced to."
> 
> Of course, nobody could stay angry after such sincere words and our wise leaders were quick to console her. The little Dragonling was quickly calmed in such comforting arms and at that moment we understood the true significance of this ceremony: a little girl, a descendant of the ones that created our world, was hurt and robbed of her friends. It is our Duty to console her, to do as the Five Elders did, cradle her in our embrace and wipe away her tears. Letting such an innocent child get hurt will always weigh on our conscience, but we can promise that from now on we will protect that sweet girl.
> 
> After that enlightening moment, Saint Felicia was joined by her parents that whisked her away. Later we saw her play smoking and joyful with her brothers. We didn't want to disturb her further but we were glad to see that even when the world tore everything away from a little child, the small Dragonling could still laugh and play so carefree.
> 
> by S. Laryn, photo T. Honji

  
  


Utter nonsense. It was utter nonsense. I was mildly impressed by how they twisted the facts to make it look like what happened had hurt innocents. Everybody who interacted with Tenryūbito (or even knew how to) could see that Celestial Dragons were everything but innocents.

A part of me was furious for being used to promote the Tenryūbito and for not realizing that someone would report what I did to the rest of the world. For a moment I thought it was a way for Morgans to tell me he knew who I was, but he felt too full of himself not to have told me when we talked, so I didn't think it was the case.

"Oh, dear, look. Not only you're famous, but it also seems like they are sorry for what happened! Isn't it wonderful?"

“No, it isn’t,” I said, glaring at dad. I didn’t want to argue, I would accomplish nothing and I could spend my energy in more efficient ways, so I sighed and stepped away from my parents.

“I’m gonna go study,” I said tiredly while leaving the room.

_Come on, Felicia. Let’s find something useful to do._

  
  


* * *

  
  


I spent the next few days observing my butlers, the pool would take about three weeks to complete so in the meantime I had to decide who to send ‘downstairs’. Louis was calm and composed, he never spoke if not to answer questions, never moved more than it was necessary. You could almost forget about him. On the other end, Benjamin was more proactive and attentive to my needs. He always appeared when I wanted or needed something and he was excellent at anticipating my thoughts.

I didn’t know who to choose, they were both perfect candidates to go down. So I started testing them and their response to stressful situations with hallucinations then wiped their memories.

Meanwhile, I supervised the construction of the swimming pool. Since my garden house had now a basement, it was being built on the ground floor of the main building. My brothers were quick to notice the chaos it caused and came to find out what was happening (Leo leaned more on being angry about the fact that the noise didn’t let him sleep or read in peace than curious, while Cas was simply nosy).

When I explained what was happening, they also wanted to try the pool and I managed to convince them to help fund it (“You want to swim in the money pool, you contribute to the money pool,” I stated). I did it partially because I didn’t know if my allowance alone could fill it, partially because their money could be used for something other than enslaving people for once.

Eventually, it was time for me to send someone away. I summoned my butlers in one of the drawing-room of the garden house. I let them sit on the couch in front of me. They both knew that it wasn’t normal but waited for me to speak.

I observed them for a few minutes and scanned their mind to gauge their surface thoughts. Louis both looked and felt calm, he knew I wasn’t disappointed in them. Benjamin was also composed, but internally he was wondering what I could want. He also discarded the idea of me being upset, simply by the fact that I would behave very differently if I was.

“Thank you for joining me so rapidly,” I said with a smile. “I called you here because I want to fire one of you.”

Hearing that, Benjamin blinked in surprise, while Louis didn’t show it, he was racking his brain to find out what I could be dissatisfied with. Even then, they didn’t speak, their training reminding them of how to behave with a Celestial Dragon.

“You can ask questions,” I allowed them.

“Your Holiness,” spoke immediately Louis. “Did we disappoint you in some way?”

  
“Nope,” I answered still smiling, but I didn’t elaborate. I wanted to see if they could get it themselves.

No one spoke, they were deep in their thoughts and I was happy to let them think. _Come on, guys, I believe in you.  
_

Finally, Benjamin raised his head and looked at me perplexed and curious. “You need to do something down there.”

My smile widened and I focused my attention on him. “Yes, I’m going to send one of you to work from down there.”

“Why use the word fire though?”

“Because officially I _will_ fire you. Nobody will know you are still working for me.”

They stared at me even more confused. I didn’t need the Mind-Mind Fruit to know what they were thinking. _Why does a seven-year-old need all this secrecy?_

“So, let me tell you what I need you two to do!” I said cheerfully. “Ben tonight you will pack your things. Louis, your family is from Karchedon in the South Blue, right? Then Benjamin you will go there and live there under the name of Ulysses Ilion. You will open a bank account somewhere that adheres strictly to financial secrecy, if it’s from the underworld even better.”

“Then,” I continued pulling out the five white snails, “You will open a Den Den Mushi shop. Establish or take over one, I don’t care. You, Louis, will invest in the business of your childhood friend Ulysses and will send some cash every month. While your shop will be a front, these four snails will be your real job.” 

“On the other side of these, there are House, Arsène, Lupin and Minnie,” I said pointing at the snails of my spies individually, “You will be the intermediary between them and their Employer. At the end of every month, you will contact them and they will report to you. Then you will use Manzetti” I gestured to Meucci’s companion, “to inform me of their doings. You will stress that they shouldn’t contact you if not for emergencies.”

Silence fell. They looked into my eyes, shocked and wary. I smiled, unafraid, and let them think.

“How old are you?” Asked Louis, distrustfully.

“Seven,” I replied, grinning and tilting my head. In my mind, I created a copy and we both took a lance, while their column rose from the pool, “but don’t worry, my age won’t bother you anymore.”

Then I plunged the spears in their mind. They sank easier than when I did it to the others, like soft wet earth. They felt my intrusion and they panicked for a second, but I quickly finished brainwashing them. They relaxed and bowed to me. Satisfied, I nodded and dismissed them. I waited for them to leave while scratching L's head then I stood up.

"Let's go see if the girls need help with their homework, shall we?"

  
  


* * *

After my talk with my butlers, I went to find my father to tell him to fire Benjamin. Dad was worried, of course, but I told him Ben did nothing wrong, I just didn’t like his face. Reassured, dad shrugged and compiled a letter of dismissal. I took it, gave him a kiss on the cheek and returned to my room. There I started crafting false memories for both Louis and Benjamin.

The next day we reunited in my room in the main house. I gave him the letter and he bowed to me, promising his loyalty and thanking him for the trust I gave him. I watched him leave from the balcony of the second floor and when I couldn’t see him anymore I erased his memory of me as his new employer. _Hopefully, this is enough to save him. Well, it’s not like I could have done more, but at least I tried._

 _  
_ I stood up and went to the money pool. It really looked like a normal swimming pool, except for the fact that the water was substituted with money. There were even a few trampolines, the ones on the side of the pool, not the high ones. I decided to try one, which in hindsight wasn’t the best idea. Even if it was only paper money it was still a lot of paper money. The jump knocked out the air from me but I shushed Louis' concerns away. I laid there on my back for a while, simply staring at the ceiling and lost in my thoughts.

_Well, this is nothing like the cartoons._ I thought while moving my arms and legs like I was really swimming. _It’s like solid ground while Scrooge was practically swimming in a ball pit. Is it the coins? Na, those would have hurt a lot more and I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if I tried to dig._

I stopped flaying around, not having moved a single inch. _This is disappointing. Maybe if I was stronger? Come to think about it, I couldn’t get away from mom the other day._

I sat up and looked at my hands. I clutched and relaxed them.

_Am I weak?_

“Louis, do you think I’m weak? Physically weak?”

He tilted his head and frowned subtly. “You are a Celestial Dragon, there’s no reason for you to concern yourself with physical strength.”  
  


“That’s not a no,” I sighed and lied back down. _Wonderful, I’m weak. Where am I supposed to find someone willing to teach a Tenryūbito? They’ll be all terrified of what happens if I get hurt. Should I just neglect that? No, if later I want to go undercover I will need to know how to punch someone without breaking my bones._

I guess I can try with the marines? They are forced to obey all our orders so that would help, but who? It’s not like I knew many.

A lightbulb went off in my head and I shoot up, grinning like a maniac. _Oooh, he will hate me and will be grumpy for a while, but now that I thought about it, I don’t want anybody else._

I stood up and skipped to the door. “Come on, L. Let’s go find dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Sorry for the delay, but life happened, but I'm here, I'm alive!
> 
> You have no idea how hard it was to write the article and even now I'm not completely happy about the chapter but sometimes you have let it go, as Elsa said.  
> Also, I wanted it to be longer, specifically, I wanted to bring her teacher in but this was the perfect moment to stop. I wonder who you think he is🧐
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you in two weeks. 👋


	18. Old Friends

Louis came down the stairs with my teacher in tow. I was standing in the center of the room, hands behind my back and smiling. 

The butler gestured towards me with a hand then bowed and left. The room was silent and while I was happy to see my teacher again, I didn’t need my Devil Fruit power to feel his annoyance, which widened my smile in amusement. He noticed that and although he wasn’t glaring I could see the anger in his eyes getting bigger.

“Congratulation on your promotions, sir,” I finally said, not wanting him to become too angry. “ I’m happy to hear that during our time apart you were so successful.”

The former Lieutenant Commander Kaion Shiotai, now Captain Kaion Shotai, continued to stare at me, silently, angrily and crossed his arms.

“I hope your journey to get here wasn’t too tiring,” I tried coaxing him, my smile softening. “If not, I can prepare a room for you and we could talk tomorrow.”

Still no response. Now I was getting worried. _Does he really not want to train me so much? I thought he was proud of me._

“Sir, I want to become strong.” My smile faded and I started sounding pleading. ”You helped me before, so I thought I would be alright to seek your help again.”

“I’m flattered that a holy being such as yourself would think to seek my assistance,” he finally spoke, tone distant and ice cold. “But you already are a strong individual. I don’t see how I could help Your Holiness.”

“No, I’m weak. I don’t know how to fight and I can barely wield a sword without stabbing myself in the process.”

“You don’t need to fight.”

“I beg to differ. The Holy Land isn’t safe. And it takes only an instant to die.”

That confused him. He tried to respond but I interrupted him. “I want to be able to defend myself! What if I get kidnapped? Even if I don’t get killed, and that’s a big if, I could still get tortured,” I bowed to him, now full-on begging him. “Please, sir, teach me.”

Strong hands grabbed my shoulders and lifted me up. I tried to resist but I was too weak.”Get up, get up!” He said. I glanced at him and he looked almost panicked and embarrassed. “Don’t.. Don’t do that. You are a Dragon. You can’t do that."

"Then teach me," I said, still trying to bow, but his hands kept me up.

"I can't! Harming a Tenryūbito is a capital offense."

"Nobody comes here, and if someone saw I could make them forget!"

He frowned and tilted his head. "You can?"

I rolled my eyes and stopped resisting. He let me go but continued to stare into my eyes, daring me to lie. "Why shouldn't I use my power to get away with stuff?"

The captain continued to look at me, wordlessly asking me to elaborate, but I remained silent.

"Please," I begged softly.

He started for a few seconds then pinched between his eyes and sighed. "Fine. But there are a few conditions."

"Deal," I said smushing my face on his chest and hugging him tightly.

"You shouldn't agree without hearing the full terms," he huffed. "I will let this one slide, but only this time."

He gently pushed me away and after a quick squeeze, I let him go, beaming up at him. 

"First, you will do everything I say when I say it. No complains, no arguing or I leave."

I nodded, still smiling.

"Second, I want to change this place. You are a child and this equipment isn't suitable for your training."

"Yes, of course. Do as you want."

"Third, I am a marine. Not a babysitter, not a teacher but a sailor sworn to protect the people. Thus I will alternate between teaching you and my post every two weeks."

"Three weeks here, one week down there?" I tried bargaining.

"Two. Weeks." He said forcefully.

I grumbled a bit but agreed.

"And lastly, you won't ever use your powers on me without my explicit consent."

I nodded. "Deal."

"Good. Now let's go find that butler."

* * *

Half an hour later, Louis knew what should stay and what should be thrown away from my gym. Oh, and also Captain Shiotai was gone for two weeks. Because there was no reason for him to stay if there was no place for me to train. So I just watched him go, hoping he would trip and embarrass himself in front of his superiors. Just out of pettiness, I thought about telling Louis to make everything in the basement some obnoxious color but then I remembered that I was going to be there as well.

The works at the gym started the next day. I stared at the procession of people entering and exiting the basement, lost in my thoughts. It kind of felt like a waste of money. Not because I thought it wasn’t necessary, just… It was the fourth renovation (five if we count when I ate the Fruit) in two years. Well, almost three. Two and a half. The me of Before wouldn’t even dream to do, she would have just pushed all the useless thing aside, put some mattresses in the center and called it a day. Now I didn’t even bat an eye when I saw the price of all this. Which was a little concerning now that I thought about it, how much I changed since I was reborn, even if it was this insignificant detail. _I didn’t need to find spies. I could have slipped a note to Sengoku telling him that Rosinante should keep his eyes on Diez Barrels and his crew and to keep Vergo as far from anything Donquixote as possible. In this way, I would have been less involved but at the same time, I wouldn’t have brainwashed people and risked their life._

I was shaken from my musing by the ringing of my pink Den Den Mushi. Reiju. I stood up and quickly found an empty room. I closed the door and answered the call.

“Hey, Reiju! It’s been a long time since I last heard you,” I said cheerfully. “Do you like it? I bought yours purple and mine’s pink.”

“Feli,” she said, amusement latched in her tone. “you do remember that I live on a giant snail, right?”

I remained silent, embarrassed.

“Pft, you forgot, didn’t you?” She snorted.

“Shaddap.”

“You did!” Now she was laughing.

“No, I didn’t! I can’t forget stuff. I just… didn’t think about it,” I said, my voice getting softer the more I talked.

She continued cackling and my embarrassment started turning into irritation.

“I’m glad you find me entertaining, but I have better things to do than getting laughed at.”

“Ooh, cranky.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” She said, still chuckling softly. “As an apology, I have a letter here for you.”

I perked up and my irritation vanished. “You have it? They wrote back?”

“Yep, received half an hour ago,” she explained. “Why couldn’t they just mail it to you?”

“It’s from my former slaves,” I sighed. “I don’t want them to be captured again.”

“Oooh.”

“Yeah. Hey, are you alone?”

“Yees, why?” She asked uncertainly.

“Do you mind read it for me? I don’t want you to spend on the stamp.” _And risking someone here to open it._

I heard the sound of tearing paper and then the voice of Reiju reading me the letter. “ _Dear Menace,_ \- Menace?”

“It’s a nickname, go on.”

“ _Dear Menace, stop calling me brat!_ -Pft, kyah ah- _We are all safe and made it all home. Why am I not surprised that you know Ray? Anyway, we stayed with him for about two months before going home. Koala is back on Fullshout even if it took a while to convince her to remain there. I don’t really wanna talk about the escape, it was scary enough as it was, I can’t imagine what it would have been if we didn’t know. So, thanks. I guess that in the future if you want to see Amazon Lily I could give you a quick tour. Just you, however. Your family would be... difficult. Not that you have to. Whatever. Hancock._ Aw, that’s sweet.”

“Tha-”

“ _P.S. Sandersonia here, maybe don’t write to Koala if you haven’t yet. She really didn’t want to leave Mary Geoise and we had to leave Fullshout in secret or she would have followed us. A bit of distance might do her good._ ”

I stayed quiet. _What? What does that mean?_

“That’s the end,” she informed me.

“Oh, yes, thanks Reiju, I owe you,” I said filing that information for later.

“You are welcome. And you are going to tell me more about them right? Menace? Brat?”

I huffed in mock exasperation but started telling her why the nicknames and what happened since I last wrote to her. I also told about the game with my brothers and friends here and how in two sessions or so I was going to get them a job in Ulyxes as promoters. Then I just had to wait a bit more, to really show them the glamour, before hitting them with embezzlement and sentencing them to hard labor.

Reiju was intrigued by it, mostly the fighting parts, but not so much that she wanted to play it. Then she told me what she did since she last wrote to me. After a traitor tried to poison her, she found out that she is somewhat immune to it, so started training with them. Judge was extremely happy with that and personally supervised her training. On the other hand, he was getting angrier and angrier at Sanji and his inability to keep up with the others.

We continued chatting until dinnertime when we both had to leave and join our respective families.

* * *

Two weeks flew by and I finally started training with Captain Shiotai. Before he started teaching me how to fight I had to meet the standards he set. I felt terrible when he told me that when he left two years ago I met those standards, but my half-year of ‘doing nothing but gorging myself on candy and sweets’ (his words not mine) regressed me. I have a sweet tooth, sue me. It took two months of running, jumping, squatting, doing push-ups, sit-ups and everything before he even deigned me of his presence. He simply showed up, found me not fast enough, not fit enough, not nimble enough, berated me and left. I wanted to kill him. I really did.

But eventually, he found my capabilities sufficient and started teaching me. I had to memorize a bunch of positions and transition from one to the other swiftly and smoothly. It was almost boring if he didn’t stare at me like a hawk and pointed out every error I did as soon as I did it.

Time passed and I learned, my hesitation became muscle memory, and while most of the time it seemed like he hated teaching me there were times I felt like he really cared for me. He forbade me from using the gym when he wasn’t there. He switched the rotation when I ask him because my birthday was going to happen when he was supposed to be here and then showed up on my birthday and left me a bouquet of agapanthus and gladiolus all of different colors. He told me that he was from a family of marines and the style he was teaching me was taught to every child before he found or created his own. It was sweet and thoughtful.

Another thing that happened during this time was that Leo’s voice started cracking. Cas and I found it hilarious, he glared at us every time we so much as smiled when it happened. Then Cas’ started to do the same and he didn’t find it so much fun anymore. I certainly still did, but now I had two brothers chasing me when I laughed. Jokes on them, I was faster and resisted much more than them.

I didn’t tease them when the first pimple started appearing. Their voice was amusing but I wasn’t going to tease my little big brothers. I even tried to help them: I told them old remedies from Before and tried to tweak their nerves to tone down their acne.

I also had transferred Leopold and Velina to their final location and they et up their front. They hadn’t approached Law or Rosinante yet but it was fine, there was still time, I hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for reading!
> 
> The chapter's a bit short, but it was a good place to stop.  
> Sooo, it's not Garp. I understand why many would think he'd be: he is awesome, a true badass, but think about it for a second, if it were you, do you really want him as a teacher? Forget about Ace, Luffy, Roger and Rocks, he's a guy who thinks that leaving his grandchildren to mountain bandits is a good idea (instead of placing them in the peaceful and quiet village at the bottom of the said mountain). His idea of "camping trip" and "training" is tossing the formerly mentioned grandkids in the jungle and see if they can come out alive. Yes, he trained Koby (and he turned into a fine marine) but the training was brutal and, well, Feli isn't a masochist. Moreover, Oda said that Garp is respected both by the marines and the World Government (so much so that he could let Luffy go _after Enies Lobby_ without even a slap on the wrist), it would be difficult to make him train a spoiled brat who everyone thinks will give up after the first week. So no Garp. Sorry, not sorry.  
> It's not a last moment decision: I wanted to bring Shiotai back since chapter 12. Chapter 12. This feels like Fisher Tiger all over again. Also, now he's a captain when before he was only a lieutenant commander. Did he go up 2 ranks, why? First, he was promoted when he helped a tenryubito (Feli) not to die, and second, I think in the two years since they saw last he probably captured a number of pirates that warranted another promotion. So he's a captain.  
> The Cas and Leo's part was my "fuck, they're teenagers and I forgot puberty" and then my scrambling attempt to make things right before anyone noticed.  
> I so wanted to title this "I'll make a Man out of You", but then it didn't really fit the chapter much.
> 
> I hope you liked it and see you in two weeks. 👋

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm Gealis! thank you for reading this.  
> This is my first story ever, so I'm kind of nervous. Also English isn't my first language so no pressure -.-'
> 
> I've been reading fanfic on this site and others for a decade, I think? (Wow, that makes me feel old)  
> Self-insert are my guilty pleasure, so I'm not surprised that my first story would be one.  
> The fandom is unexpected, tho. I just had this idea that wouldn't leave and, since the world is on hold now, I couldn't find an excuse not to write.
> 
> I have a few chapters already good for posting, but I'll probably update weekly, to give me time to reread them and write new ones. I'll let you know if there are changes.


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